Silver shadows
by Shiningheart of ThunderClan
Summary: Four girls get kidnapped. Botan, Keiko, Yukina, and a mysterious forth girl. This mysterious fourth girl happens to be from Hiei's clouded past. Chapter 11 up!
1. dun dun DUN! The mission

Me: okay all; this is my first story on Be nice to me!

Hiei: Or not, because that's no fun at all.

Me: glare shut it, Jaganshi.

Hiei: smirk

Me: Read and review.

Chapter one: Dun dun DUN! The mission

We find the boys waiting in Koenma's office for said toddler doing various things. Yusuke and Kuwabara were wrestling on the floor. Kurama sat in a chair on the sidelines reading a book, only looking up from the occasional yelp of pain from Kuwabara. Hiei was just……being Hiei.

"I wonder what binky breathe wants now." Yusuke wondered aloud, pausing with Kuwabara in a headlock."

"It must be important to call us in himself instead of Botan coming to get us." Kurama answered in his 'ha-I'm-so-much-smarter-than-you' way of his. Hiei 'hn'ed.

"Hn. Then what's taking the toddler so long to get here?" He scowled irritably. Then, as if some magical force called his name, Koenma appeared.

"About fucking time Koenma!" Yusuke shouted, releasing Kuwabara. Kuwabara fell to the floor with swirly eyes. Everyone sweat-dropped. "Eh heh, my bad." Yusuke said, grinning. Koenma turned to Kurama.

"I trust you'll brief Kuwabara later?" Kurama nodded and closed his book. "Good. We can't wait for him to wake up. Have any of you seen Botan?" All able and willing shook their heads.

"Not since that pointless party she threw last week." Hiei said coldly, scowling. Koenma sighed.

"I was afraid of that. That's because she and three other girls were kidnapped. You know two of the other girls. Keiko and Yukina." Hiei growled dangerously and Yusuke's fist clenched. "The fourth girl we have close to no information on, and the reason why she was taken is unclear. However, what we do know is that if they gain control of her powers, you boys will have your work cut out for you."

"So where are they?" Yusuke said through clenched teeth. Koenma motioned to an ogre and the ogre ran out. A screen came down and on it four blocks appeared at the top. In the first three blocks were pictures of the girls. The last one was empty.

Beneath the four blocks, an image of a desolate burned down forest came up. The ground was grassless and burned. Charred branched from the few trees there was scattered loveless along the floor.

About 200 miles away, a crumbling castle came into view. The parapets were decaying entirely and vines wove in and out of the cracked stone. Only one tower out of four was intact. All the other towers were rubble.

"The ruins of Mazora's castle." Kurama whispered. "Can you give us a better idea of where they are?" Koenma shook his head no.

"A shield of some sort surrounds the castle. It isn't a physical shield, just a spiritual one. You can walk right through it, but if Yusuke shot his spirit gun into the air, the shield would absorb it and direct its energy to the demon creating the barrier.

"Spirit energy can be used inside and out, but can't be transferred in between. I've already tried to contact Botan through her compact, but it's either destroyed or I can't get a signal through."

"So Botan won't be able to make a portal back to Spirit world until we get out of this force field?" Kurama said thoughtfully. Koenma nodded.

"Precisely. It won't be enough to simply find them. You've got to get out of there as well, and if possible, kill the demon that kidnapped the girls."

"And who's the bastard that took them? You know, just to make sure we kill the right guy." Yusuke said.

"Or brutally murder him, if he hurts Yukina." Hiei growled. Yusuke grinned evilly and nodded. Koenma shrugged.

"We don't have the details, like his name or what kind of demon he is, or his rank. But he must be strong, and have some psychic abilities to maintain that barrier. Just avoid your spirit attacks." A portal appeared beneath the boys, sending them down with a surprised yelp from Yusuke. "Good luck, detectives!" Koenma called through the portal.

Me: Okay, that's the first chapter for my first story. Review please?

Kurama: Flames are welcome.

Me: Oh yes. Flames will be used to make the deliciousness known as S'MORES! Mmmm…..s'mores. So keep them coming guys!!


	2. all aboard for a bumpy ride!

BWJL (me): pout no s'mores. WHY OH WHY MUST I BE SUCH AN EXCELLENT WRITER!! ……no one answer that.

Yusuke: We've learned not to.

Hiei: Your stories suck.

Kurama: Well, most of us.

Me: CHEESE OFF JAGANSHI! tackle Hiei

Kurama: sigh BlackwolfJaganshiLover does not own YuYuHakusho, nor any of the affiliated things you may or may not recognize from this story.

Yusuke: Big words….ow.

Chapter two: All aboard for a bumpy ride!

In Makai, a portal opened up. Screaming could be heard from inside, and from out of the portal, the four detectives dropped to the ground. Kurama and Hiei landed on their feet gracefully. Yusuke also landed on his feet, with less grace than the two demons, until Kuwabara's body pelted him to the ground.

"KURAMA!!" Yusuke shouted, disentangling himself from Kuwabara's limbs. "Don't you have a plant to wake him up or something?" Kurama chuckled and searched through his hair. The flower he pulled out has purple and red petals with a black stem. Kurama shook the plant over his palm and orange pollen piled up. He bent over Kuwabara's body and blew the orange pollen in his Kuwabara's face. Kuwabara's eyelids flew open and he jumped away from Kurama with his hand on his nose.

"Man that stinks! What is that?" He shouted. Kurama laughed and tucked the plant away into his hair.

"Just my own invention. Now come, we must rescue the girls." Kuwabara jumped up.

"WHAT! They have my Yukina!!" He ran away as fast as he could, a cloud of dust trailing him. All three detectives sweat-dropped.

"So," Yusuke said slowly, "how long do you think it'll take before he has no idea where he's going?" Yusuke and Kurama looked to the blood red sky thoughtfully (A/N: Gasp, Yusuke thinking!) while Hiei smirked in the direction Kuwabara ran. Kurama groaned.

"Hiei, you'd better fetch him." Hiei glared and 'hn'ed.

"Hn. Why should I? He'd just slow us down. Besides, I have no doubt the enemy knows of our presence, now thanks to that buffoon." Yusuke and Kurama sighed and sat down.

"Regardless, go get him." Hiei glared at him, then sighed and proofed away, not a speck of dust or dirt giving even a hint that he was ever there. The remaining two stayed in that spot for about five minutes before Hiei contacted Kurama telepathically.

-Fox. - His mind voice thingy rang unusually with feigned amazement and urgency. Kurama raised an eyebrow. At Yusuke's inquiring look, Kurama mouthed 'Hiei.' –Fox, you'll never guess.-

What, Hiei?" He said back, a smile tugging at his mouth.

-The moron actually went the right way! - Kurama stifled a mixture of a laugh and a mock gasp of amazement. He motioned to Yusuke to follow him.

Understood. I'm on my way. Kurama began running after them and Yusuke, after starting after him, realized where they were going. He began laughing.

"Wait, so Kuwabara actually went the right way?" Kurama chuckled.

"Yes. I know, I'm amazed as well, Yusuke. Who knew Kuwabara had so much luck?" The parapets were just coming into view, as well as Hiei and Kuwabara. Kuwabara waved them over wildly.

"HEY GUYS! OVER HERE!" Hiei rolled their eyes and scowled.

"Be quiet, you imbecile. The mission is taxing on my patience already and listening to your obnoxious voice isn't helping." Kuwabara growled and help up a fist, supposedly threateningly.

"You got something to say to me, shorty!?!" Hiei glared up at him.

"If I said anything to you, it'd just be a waste of my breath."

"WHY YOU LITTLE-!"

"Kuwabara, please be silent!" Kurama hissed impatiently.

"But why? They probably already know we're here." Hiei glanced impatiently at the castle looming overhead.

"And whose fault is that?" He growled out angrily. Kurama and Yusuke exchanged uneasy and confused glances while Kuwabara seethed. Yusuke spoke first.

"Man, Hiei, what crawled up your ass and died?" Hiei glared at them and snarled.

"I'm sorry, I missed the part where that's any of your business!" Yusuke held up his hands defensively in the classic 'don't-shoot-I'm-innocent!' gesture.

"Okay, Okay. You don't need to bite my head off!"

Hiei whirled around so his cloak flapped behind him. He stomped toward the castle, steam literally rising from him. A few steps more and a kind of blue sparkly light floated off of him. He stopped and looked up in time to see a light blue force field with a honey-comb shaped pattern fade from view.

"Well," Kurama stated carefully, "it appears Hiei has discovered the barrier for us." Unseen by the others, on of Hiei's normal eyes twitched. He continued towards the castle and heard three shimmering sounds as the others passed though the barrier behind him.

Hiei took off his bandana and began searching for the familiar energy signature he knew as his sister's. But instead, he found another familiar signature. One he hadn't sensed for over two centuries. 'What the fuck?' Hiei thought. 'Why the hell is she here…..oh, duh!' He found the other girls easily then hastily put his bandana on. He turned to the others.

"They're in the basement."

"We'll have to search for a way down." Kurama said thoughtfully.

"Or we could make one." Yusuke suggested, drawing his fist back and powering up.

"NO!" Kurama said sharply, grabbing Yusuke's wrist. "Think, Yusuke. These are ruins. If we just blast a hole through the ground, the structure could collapse and crush the girls." Yusuke scowled darkly but lowered his fist. "Thank you Yusuke." Hiei snorted.

"It seems they prepared for us." Kurama nodded and took a rose from his hair.

"So it seems." Behind them, the two humans exchanged glances and nodded. Kuwabara drew his spirit sword and Yusuke walked forward.

"Well guys, I guess it's time to get our girls and that fourth chick back."

BWJL: I know, I know, it was a weak ending.

Hiei: Speaking of weak-

Me: DON'T. Start. With me, Jaganshi. Review please. The little button down there is lonely. It's shouting 'click me, and you get to hit Kuwabara with a baseball bat!'

Hiei: Smirk I like that thing.


	3. Fruits

Me: Okay, can you guys help me with something? I need help deciding on a permanent title for this story. _Silver shadows_ and _Story of our tears_ sounds too dramaey for this fic.

Kurama: Dramaey? ...

Me: Yes, fox. Dramaey. Not a word, but still works. So if you have suggestions, they are highly welcomed and appreciated, just as reviews are. Hint hint!

Disclaimer: I own nadda. At least, nothing having anything to do with YuYuHakusho.

Me: Now, we start le fic!!

* * *

Chapter three: Fruits (a/n: you'll see….)

Hiei slashed down another demon and looked around to check on his companions. Kurama was fairing rather well. He had a shallow cut across his arm left from a lower c class demon that was quickly shut down by his rose whip. Hiei glanced at the humans. They were fighting side by side, backed into a wall. They were….._alive_, at least. Yusuke's spirit gun was a far range attack, getting all demons far away. Kuwabara's spirit sword cut down any demons lucky enough to stumble out of the way. Hiei was surprised to see both with only minimal injuries.

Hiei mind wandered to when they first discovered the swarm of lower class demons now surrounding him.

_Flashback_

They crept up to the castle doors as quietly as they could, with Hiei tripping Kuwabara every few yards. After a particularly loud yelp from Kuwabara, Yusuke swore.

"Aw, SCREW IT!" He stomped over to the door and kicked it open loudly. Dust flew up from the floor inside. Yusuke cracked his knuckles menacingly before the dust settled. "Knock, knock."

_End flashback_

Hiei was pulled out of his musings from when two demons jumped on him. Without thinking, he raised his aura, disintegrating nearby demons, including the ones Kurama was fighting. Kurama blinked at him surprised.

-What? - Hiei asked telepathically.

When did you learn to do that? Kurama answered, going back to fighting.

-thirty seconds ago. - Kurama laughed out loud.

"Hiei!" He yelled. Hiei smirked at him and searched around for a way down stairs. He found it behind a huge demon.

-Fox. You see that staircase behind this insanely huge D class demon? - Out of the corner of his eye, Hiei saw Kurama glance at the staircase.

go down it?" Hiei gave a barely perceptible nod.

-Go down it. I got the big one. - Hiei ran at the demon, his Kitana flashing. Kurama waited until Hiei had driven away the demon then ran down stairs. Four voices drifted up to him in turn. He immediately distinguished the first three as the girls, but the fourth one he didn't recognize. And they were naming……fruits?

"Apple." That was Yukina's voice.

"Orange." Keiko.

"Banana." Botan.

"Kiwi." The fourth voice. They kept naming fruits as Kurama stood there, blinking confusedly. He finally shook his head and continued down the staircase. On the last step, he unconsciously noted it was Botan's turn and the fourth voice didn't answer. He looked up and saw a pair of dull black eyes staring at him.

"Naomi-chan? It's your turn." Yukina called to her.

"Um…..Girls? Speaking of fruits, there's a dude with long red hair watching me.

* * *

BWJL: Heh, I know. I'm mean.

Kurama: ………twitch

Me:…..inches away HE'S GONNA KILL ME! runs

Kurama: smirk review please.


	4. a plan to rescue

Me: Good news everybody!

Hiei: Kuwabaka died?

Me: We wish. No, the good news is, the fox didn't kill me!

Hiei: …how is that good news? That's horrible!

Kurama: You're the one that stopped me.

Hiei: Okay, why tell people that?

Me: Rate and message.

Chapter four: Rescue team go!

Kurama growled and his eye twitched. Laughter echoed from the top of the staircase where the others were waiting.

"Kurama!" Botan shouted.

"Kurama-kun?" Yukina's soft voice called.

"YUKINA!!" Kuwabara yelled. Kurama heard a thunk and was pretty sure one of the other boys just hit Kuwabara.

"Hm." Said the fourth voice. "So that was the noise. Well, anyway, that's fine and dandy, now GET US OUT OF HERE!" Kurama scowled and looked into each cell. He heard the others follow.

"So," Hiei said, "you're still alive." Kurama turned and saw Hiei staring at the pair of dull black eyes. She growled.

"Get me out of here and I'll SHOW you how alive I am Jaganshi." Hiei raised a brow and smirked.

" Is that a challenge, wolf?" She mirrored his smirk.

"It always is, Hiei." Hiei put a hand on the hilt of his sword. If anyone had blinked, they would've missed Hiei cutting through the bars. He walked away and the girl bounded into the open. Her dull eyes squinted against the light filtering from the staircase. She had dark blue hair, the color of the midnight sky of human world. "Need help finding your friends?"

"Hn." He turned towards the stairwell.

"Jaganshi!" He stopped and sent her an irritated look. "Check for an ambush." Hiei scowled but took off his bandana. His Jagan glowed for a few moments. "All the low class demons are gone, though there is a more powerful demon up ahead."

"Think it could give you and me a run for our money?" She gave a smirk that was frighteningly similar to Hiei's. She looked into a cell two down from the one Yusuke was looking in. "Yukina." She said softly.

"Hello Naomi-chan." Yukina answered. Hiei smirked and poofed next to Naomi. She looked at him blankly.

"Don't work anymore, Hiei."

" Does this?" He poked his side. Naomi jumped up and emitted a loud squeal.

"JAGANSHI!" She aimed a punch at his head, but Hiei disappeared again. She looked in the cell. "Yukina! Your brother's a show off!" Even if they couldn't see Yukina, her voice said she was smiling.

"Yes, I know. But I love him anyway. And you know what? I'd love him even more if he GOT ME OUT OF HERE!" Naomi laughed softly before turning to Hiei.

"I think that means it's time to stop gawking and cut the bars." Hiei shut his mouth and cut Yukina's bars in the same manner he cut Naomi's. Yukina calmly walked out and turned to Hiei.

"Hiei…" And she swiftly kicked his shin. Naomi burst out laughing as Hiei cursed loudly and sat, rubbing his shin. "I'll deal with you later, NII-CHAN."

"Well," Kurama said lightly, coming up with Botan in tow, "that was unexpected." Naomi slowly stopped laughing.

"Well, they are siblings. It makes sense that they both have quick tempers."

"I'LL SHOW YOU QUICK TEMPER!" Naomi 'eep'ed and ran away from Yukina. Yukina took a step forward and tripped on her kimono. "FUCK!" Naomi laughed and took Hiei's kitana. She cut Yukina's kimono to the middle of her thigh.

"Yukina, you are almost as pathetic as the homicidal pyro midget." Yukina smirked.

"That homicidal pyro midget happens to be taller than you/" Naomi looked at her blankly.

"Yukina? Shut up." She gave Hiei his kitana back. "Oh, and Yukina?" Naomi disappeared then reappeared behind Yukina.

(Enter slow-mo)

Yukina SLOWLY turned to face Naomi. Naomi SLOWLY ran at her, SLOWLY pulling her arm back. Yukina's eyes SLOWLY widened and she SLOWLY put her hands. Naomi's fist SLOWLY connected with Yukina's jaw.

(End slow-mo)

'Yukina' flew through the stone above the stair case. But the scream that came from her wasn't Yukina's. It was low pitched and scratchy. An image of a lizard came to mind. Kuwabara rounded on Naomi.

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT!"

"Be silent, Neanderthal. That wasn't Yukina." Naomi said coldly. She turned to Keiko and Botan. "You two, stay down here. I want the two humans here for protection." She disappeared up the stairs before anyone could protest. Hiei followed her up without a word.

When Kurama came up, the Yukina imposter was crawling out of a pile of rocks and struggling up. Naomi walked ahead of Hiei, who stood with a hand on the hilt of his kitana. Her hand began to glow violet.

"Demon, reveal to us your true form!" She threw the energy at the demon and violet flames erupted from the ground. The creature screeched as the pearly white skin of Yukina boiled and melted into scaly black skin. The sea-green hair bristled and burned, leaving a scaly square and bald head. The violet flames disappeared. The demon opened his eyes to show beady black eyes. The demon hissed.

"Fools. You may have discovered me, but you can never defeat my master!" The demon lunged at Naomi. Naomi stood still except for raising her hand. It glowed violet again.

"Stay!" The glow faded from her hand and reappeared around the demon. He halted and stayed in mid air. Naomi nodded to Hiei and he nodded back, taking off his bandana. It glowed for a few minutes before Hiei put it back on. "Did you get everything we needed?" Hiei nodded. "Then dispose of the pathetic creature." She closed her hand and the demon dropped to the floor. Hiei killed it before it could get up. "Report Jaganshi." Hiei glared at her.

"You no longer command me, wolf." Naomi glared at Hiei.

"I do if you wish to see your sister alive, Jaganshi. Now report!" Hiei growled but grudgingly complied.

"They've taken Yukina to a forest to the far south of here." Hiei's fist clenched until his knuckles turned white. "I could've saved her, if you hadn't stopped me from coming up earlier."

"Or you could've walked straight into an ambush at the top of the stairs. Did you find an exact location?" Hiei shook his head.

"No, only that she's very far away right now." Naomi nodded.

"Then that's where I'm going. Take the remaining girls away from here." Everyone came up. "Botan, can you make a portal now that the demon making the barrier has fled?" Botan shrugged.

"I can try." she held her hand out and her tongue poked out of her mouth. Her oar popped up. "Yes!" A swirling portal appeared in a wall. All but Naomi and Hiei stepped in. Hiei stared at Naomi expectantly.

"I'll bring her back safely, Hiei. I promise." Hiei shook his head and stepped toward her.

"I'm not leaving you again." Naomi stepped away from him.

"You must Hiei. You yourself said I don't command you anymore, but I can ask you something as a friend." Hiei appeared in front of her.

"Then will you bring yourself back safely as well? I already lost you once. I don't think I can stand losing you again." Naomi looked into Hiei's crimson eyes.

"Hiei, do me a favor." Her arms went around his neck and she was kissing him. Hiei kissed her back and wrapped her own arms around her waist, holding her tightly. He was suddenly holding nothing. He found Naomi by the door, looking outside. "Forget I ever existed." And she disappeared into the barren wasteland.

Me: So sad, but so good, right?

Hiei: ….

Kurama: ….

Me: OKAY, IT SUCKED! RATE AND MESSAGE!


	5. Rescue team go!

Me: Well, apparently we were wrong about the last chapter. hugs people who read Thank you guys!!

Hiei: Oh god, make her stop.

Me: Shove it Jaganshi. Rate and message!!

Chapter five: An escort home

The portal closed behind Hiei as he stepped into Koenma's office. At the fox's inquisitive glance, Hiei barely shook his head.

Later, fox. Kurama nodded and turned back to Koenma. Koenma waited until he had everyone's attention.

"Where are the other two girls?" Kurama answered like the good fox that he is.

"Yukina was relocated to another prison just before we showed up. The unknown woman went after her."

Koenma hummed thoughtfully.

"Who was the unknown female?" A flash of gold crossed Kurama's eyes before he turned to Hiei.

"Why don't you ask Hiei? He seemed to know her well enough." Hiei glared at the fox.

"Well Hiei? Do you know her?" Hiei growled then looked away and 'hn'ed.

"Hn. I used to. She is no longer the demoness I once thought she was." 'And that much is true. If she wants me to forget her, then I will.' But what Koenma said next made that close to impossible.

"She's still in danger. Go after her."

"But Koenma sir," Kurama said, "she seemed to be too powerful to get captured."

"Oh yeah?" Kuwabara shouted loudly. "If she's so powerful, how'd she get captured the first time?" Hiei internally froze cause he's too much of an emotionless badass to let anyone know how much Kuwabara's words disturbed him.

"Huh," Yusuke said, "For once, Kuwabara, You may have a point." Kuwabara grinned goofily before frowning when the realization set in.

"Hey! Shut your hole Urimeshi!" Yusuke gained a Hiei-like smirk.

"Why don't you make me, Kuwabaka?" He went to shove Kuwabara, but Hiei's glare froze them both.

"If you two even START, you will WISH there were such things as monsters." Both humans nodded fearfully and stepped away from Hiei. He turned to Koenma. "Open a portal. I'm going after her." Koenma nodded.

"You all will. I sent you boys to rescue all four girls. Yukina is still held captive, and the fourth is still in danger. Your mission isn't over." A portal opened in the wall . All except Kurama stepped through.

"Kurama." Botan said meekly. Kurama looked at her worriedly. "When you find Naomi, tell her I said thank you." Kurama looked at her inquisitively but nodded and stepped through the portal.

Demon world

Hiei jumped through the trees. He'd left the others far behind. He stopped on a branch. In front on his, a prison like base was set. With barbed wire, spot lights, and everything. And below his, hiding in the bushes, was Naomi.

Smirking, Hiei jumped down behind her, not making a sound. He held his breath and put his mouth next to her furry wolf ear.

"Boo." Naomi jumped and spun around. Hiei covered her mouth and threw her over his shoulders. Hiei ran away from the fortress and appeared in front of is teammates. He put Naomi down and quickly stepped back to avoid her fist.

" I swear to god, Jaganshi, I will fucking kill you!" She threw another punch at him but he caught her fist.

" Yeah, yeah. You can attempt it AFTER we rescue Yukina." Naomi growled at him but then sighed.

" You never could resist a good break in, could you?" Hiei turned his head away from his team to hide his grin.

"Nope, not at all." He leaned against a tree. "So, you have a plan yet?" Naomi bit her lip nervously.

"Maybe. This would be so much easier if Gato were here." Hiei looks at Kurama.

"We could use the fox. He's almost like Gato, just without the attitude and mouth." Naomi's ears flattened against her head.

"You know I don't trust foxes." She sighed. "But I guess he's all we got. How good are you at controlling the memphora plant?" Kurama's eyes widened.

"I've never tried it before. There was never any need to. Why?" But Naomi shook her head.

"Never mind. If you've never tried it before, I don't want to risk it. We'll go with Plan S." Hiei nodded and disappeared. Kurama opened his mouth to speak but Naomi held up a hand for silence. An explosion sounded in the far distance. She clenched her fist and took off thorough the trees.

Help me distract them! Naomi can get Yukina. The gang ran in the direction of the explosion, each with there own thoughts.

"Yo fox boy!" Yusuke shouted. "Do you really think we can trust this chick?"

"Yes. Hiei seems to trust her entirely. And his trust is hardest to earn." But his head wasn't in his answer.

'Gato……Gato shinsigami , a murderous thief of before even my time. I wasn't aware Hiei knew all these dangerous criminals.'

/Perhaps our homicidal pyro midget is more than he seems?/ Kurama's mouth twitched into a smile.

-Yoko. I haven't heard from you in a while.-

/I know. Did you miss me?/

-not in the least.- Yoko sniffed inside his head.

/sniff so hurtful. Now, back to my midget./

-Yoko.-

/Yes?/

-be quiet.-

Kurama ignored Yoko after that. An orangish glow was up ahead and it was getting steadily warmer. They emerged into a burning field. In the center, Hiei was being over run by demons. They jumped into the fight.

With Naomi

Naomi jumped from branch to branch. Below her, a swarm of demons was heading toward Hiei and the boys. 'I just hope Hiei can hold them off long enough.' She stopped behind a tree trunk, kneeling. Naomi put a glowing hand on the shadow of the tree.

"Conceal." The shadows rose and wrapped around Naomi, bringing her into the darkness. Everything was black. She looked up. Above her was the surface world. She followed the demons back to the fortress.

With the guys

Yusuke was pushed back by a demon. He fell to his knees and was soon joined by the others. He growled.

"There's too many of them!" Hiei's eyes scanned his comrades. Kuwabara, surprise surprise, had the most wounds, while he himself had the least.

"We won't have to kill them all, just buy Naomi some time to find Yukina." A wolf appeared behind on top of a pile of rocks and howled. Hiei watch it for a bit.

"Am I right in assuming that's Naomi?" Kurama inquired. Hiei nodded and backed toward the wolf.

"That's the order to pull back." The humans stared at him disbelievingly.

"And you want us to actually give up?" Yusuke growled. Hiei shook his head, his eyes never leaving the enemy demons.

" There's a difference between retreating and getting out of the way." The sky was getting darker. "Guess which one we're doing!" He jumped up next to Naomi. The three left behind looked at each other uncertainly. The air was becoming pressurized. "GET UP HERE!" Kurama jumped and landed gracefully behind Naomi while the humans scrambled up the rocks next to Hiei.

One of the demons tried to jump at them, but he slammed into the ground. The humans reached the last rock and saw Naomi's eyes glowing violet. She morphed into her two leg form.

"Shadows, eat." Shadows from everywhere flew toward the hoards of demons, tearing them limb from limb. The glow faded from her eyes and she slumped against Hiei, panting. "Been a long time since I've had to use that technique." She pushed off of Hiei and took a shaky step toward the forest. Hiei steadied her.

"You're such an idiot, wolf." Hiei growled. Naomi pushed off him again.

"I take offense to that. Don't catch me again, Jaganshi. I have to lead you to where Yukina is hiding." Despite her words, her eye lids fluttered. Hiei shook his head and threw Naomi on his back.

"Don't be stupid, wolf. That technique has the same effect on you that the dragon of the darkness flame does on me. So tell me where she is, then rest."

"North by northwest, beneath the roots of the big tree." Hiei jumped through the trees, Naomi's warm breath on his neck. He allowed himself a smile. 'Just like old times.' The trunk of the tree came into view long before the roots did. He could see Yukina's sea-green hair through them. He growled.

"Great hiding spot, wolf!" Hiei landed beside the roots and caught a flash of green from the corner of his eye a second before he was tackled from the side, Naomi falling from his back and rolling away.

"HIEI!" Yukina screeched. The Yukina under the roots faded. Hiei narrowed his eyes at it. 'an illusion?' He glanced at Naomi He glanced at Naomi. 'when did she learn illusions?' He shook his head and pushed Yukina off of him. 'I've been gone a long time if she learned illusions.'

"Yukina, are you okay?" Yukina nodded quickly, her eyes shining joyously.

"Hiei, are you truly my brother?" Hiei's eyes widened a fraction of a inch. Yukina giggled and pointed to the necklace sticking out of his shirt. Hiei glared at it as if daring it to say 'DUH HE IS HOW STUPID CAN YOU BE TO MISS THAT!' He 'hn'ed.

"Hn. No. I found this in a village." He put it back inside his shirt where it rested coolly against his skin. Hiei inwardly winced when Yukina visibly wilted.

"Oh. I would've loved to have you as a brother." Hiei frowned and looked away.

"How can you want me as your brother? I'm a thief and a murderer with the blood of countless innocent victims on my hands. Why do you want me as a brother?" Yukina blinked at him and smiled softly.

"Hiei, as far as I'm concerned, you already are my brother." Hiei shrugged.

"Think what you want." He kneeled next to Naomi.

"Naomi-chan!"

"She'll be fine. She used a technique more energy consuming then my dragon. She'll be asleep for a whole twenty-four hours." Yukina smirked at him. Hiei inwardly shuddered at how much it mirrored his own.

"You seem to know and care an awful lot for Naomi for someone you've never known. Now, tell me, why is that?" Her eyes glinted mischievously. Hiei shook his head.

"You've been spending too much time with the fox. That's a story for another time. Right now we need to get out of the open." Yukina nodded and disappeared behind the roots while Hiei picked Naomi up bridal style. Yukina's head stuck out from the roots.

"Should we bring her to Koenma-sama. Hiei?" Hiei froze for less than a second before shaking his head.

"No. When the others get here, you're to go back to Genkai's temple. I'm staying with Naomi until she wakes up, then escorting her home."

__

Me: I'm not sure if you would count that as a cliff hanger, but I still put it up. Be happy! Review please! I really want to know what people think of my shittty crap. That means the story…..


	6. Father?

Me: sigh People don't love me, why do I keep putting these up?

Hiei: Because you like torturing us?

Me: ...yeah, that could be it. R&R please!

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Chapter six: Father?? 

Naomi groaned but didn't open her eyes. She was warm, and wrapped up in something. That's when she realized the thing holding her was breathing. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see Hiei's pale sleeping face.

Naomi studied his face carefully. It truly was amazing how much of a child he he seemed when he was sleeping. His face was more relaxed now, causing his cheeks to puff out a bit. His mouth was open slightly in a silent snore, his warm breath tickling the tuft on her wolf ear.

She looked around carefully so her fluff didn't wake Hiei. Yukina was no where in sight, but the three other detectives lay around a long burned out campfire. She looked back to Hiei to see his crimson eyes staring at her. She jumped away from him.

"Shit, Jaganshi, don't do that!" She whispered harshly. Hiei smirked and motioned to the cave entrance. Naomi nodded and led the way out. It was still dark out. Hiei pulled Naomi up the tree and onto a branch far enough so people, specifically the ones under the roots, couldn't hear them.

The red sun of Makai was just rising. The sky was turning ash gray to red, the transisting section a soft lilac.

"I believe this is what the humans call deja vu." Hiei said, watching the sun slowly climb the sky. Naomi looked at him softly.

"This is how we first met." Hiei nodded.

"Hopefully, though, this one won't have the same ending." Naomi smiled, this time a sad, regretful smile.

"I'd like that."" She lay her head on his shoulder. Hiei turned so her head fell on his chest and he held her closely.

" So would I." A few minutes passed in a comfortable silence before movement below disturbed them. Kurama was stretching. Hiei felt Naomi tense in his arms until Kurama walked away.

"Stupid fox. Doesn't he know what his kind did?" Hiei gave her shoulders a relaxing squeeze.

"No. he was still in his human mother when it happened. He has no idea." Naomi relaxed again but still shot a scathing look at Kurama's back.

I hope so. For his sake." A half hour past in silence. Naomi stood on their branch and stretched. "Come on, Jaganshi. We should find some food for your teammates." Hiei also stupid and gave himself a good shake before nodding.

An hour later, they had collected an exceptionally large pile of meat, beast and fowl alike. Naomi was in the process of cooking it all when the two humans wandered out of the roots, tempted by the smell of food. Naomi waved at them.

"Sit on down, plenty for all." They began drooling at the food. Naomi shook her head and threw a rock at Kuwabara's head, effectively snapping them both out of their 'MUST HAVE FOOD' dazes.

During the fight following Yusuke's laughter at Kuwabara's misery, Hiei appeared in the clearing. In her hands were another bird and a blood stained magenta cloth.

"Someone's taken the fox." All activity stopped. Naomi took the piece of cloth from Hiei and sniffed it. Her nose wrinkled in disgust and she gave the cloth back to Hiei.

"Yup, that's the stench of fox alright." She sighed and took the meat off the fire. "Okay, let's go get him." She handed the meat to the humans. "Here. It's washed, and unpoisoned. "I wouldn't want to kill Hiei's new kinsmen. The pile over there, " she pointed to a pile of smoking meats," Is cooked. Help yourself, but don't touch the rest. Uncooked demon animals is highly toxic to humans, especially around this forest." Yusuke stood and glared at her defiantly.

"Who do you think you are, pushing my team around? You have no authority over us." No one noticed Hiei tense or his hand twitch toward his kitana. Naomi held a hand out to stop him and looked at Yusuke calculatingly. Then she sighed and dropped her hand from in front of Hiei.

"You are correct human. I have no authority to command, or 'push around' your team, as you call it. However, I do have a better knowledge of my world than you. I suggest you listen to me, and stay well away from the battle field. Hiei and I will bring your companion back safely. But until then, stay in the clearing and if any enemies come, don't engage them. You two being found alone could blow our cover. And I'd rather not come back to find you two captured." With that, she put her hand on Hiei's shoulder and shadows rose around them, leaving the humans to stare in confusion at the spot where their friend and the mysterious girl who was captured just were. Yusuke shook his head and plopped onto the ground.

"Damn, that chick is weird." Kuwabara nodded in agreement.

Down in the shadow world, Hiei shuddered.

'I'm never going to get used to that.' Naomi looked at him and grinned.

'That's cause you haven't traveled with me in about ten years, give or take a year.' Stared at her, just stopping himself from smacking his jagan in frustration.

'DAMN IT! I forgot you can't hide your thoughts in this world. You know I hate it when anyone can hear what I'm thinking!' Naomi let out a silent laugh, throwing her head back.

'Oh, very nice Hiei. So,' she crossed her arms and cocked her head, 'are you carrying me to the fortress, or am I running next to you?' Hiei smirked and picked her up, bridal style.

'What do you think?' And they suddenly appeared in front of the castle. Naomi pouted at Hiei.

'You are no fun Jaganshi." Hiei smirked and put her down. 'Come on, let's find the fox.

The surface world raced above them as they ran through the fortress undetected. They rushed under demons and Naomi led the way quickly to the dungeon. Kurama was chained to the wall, bloody and unconscious. His entire right sleeve was gone and a gash on his should was bleeding profusely. Naomi grimaced. 'I haven't seen that much blood since Shin came to our village.' Hiei nodded and again placed his hand on her shoulder. She brought them up to the surface world. Naomi picked the lock with a disgusted look on her face. Hiei put Kurama on his back. Naomi stifled a laugh at the sight of a five foot fox being carried by a four foot midget. Hiei glared at her.

"What?" He growled. Naomi put her hands behind her back innocently.

"What what?" Hiei rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Don't start that, Naomi. It's going to be a bitch to get out of here." Naomi nodded and knelt by the cell door, also picking that lock. "It sucks that you have to be conscious to be in your realm." Naomi shrugged and looked back at him.

"Don't blame me, blame the shadows. It also sucks that you're going to smell like fox for a while." She glared scathingly at Kurama. "I don't understand why you'vie befriended this..._thing_ when you know what his kind did to me!" Hiei's eyes flashed hurt before going back to stoic.

"He was the first one in Human world to actually give a shit about me. And I thought you were dead, Naomi! If I know you were alive-" Naomi snapped her teeth to silence him.

"You would have done the same thing, and you can't deny it Hiei, I know you too well." Her tail lost it's bristle and drooped down in a sign of sadness. "You didn't even say goodbye." She shook her head and looked around the wall. "But now is not the time to settle old wounds. Instead, it's time to shut up and play follow the Wolfy." She grinned back at him and turned down the hall. Hiei shook his head and followed her silently. 'I will never understand you, Naomi. Even before I left.'

They crept along the dark hallways silently, Kurama on Hiei's back and Naomi leading the way. Naomi looked around the corner and signaled to stop. Three large demons were standing guard, big, stupid, and horribly drunk. Naomi wrinkled her sensitive nose. Kurama blinked her eyes open but snapped them shut against the light and he groaned in pain. All demons froze. One guard staggered forward drunkenly.

"Who's 'dere!" Naomi cursed under her breath. She touched Hiei's shoulder and put a hand to the wall. By the time the guard came around the corner, they were already gone.

_with Humans_

Yusuke paced the clearing around the big tree, looking in the woods every lap. Kuwabara sat by the roots, watching him. Yusuke threw his hands in the air.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE THEY!" Just as he said that, Naomi and Hiei staggered out of the forest both panting slightly. Hiei lay Kurama on the ground quickly. Naomi looked at Yusuke with furious eyes.

"Call the toddler. The fox needs medical attention, fast." She pulled Hiei back to the forest, not that he needed to be told twice. He was already running after her. "I'm borrowing Jaganshi for a bit more. You can have him back after we destroy the base." 'Now he's gone too far.' She thought. 'That bastard.' Out loud, she said "This game of cat and mouse is fucking OVER!" And with that, they fell to shadows once again. Yusuke's eye twitched.

"I'm really beginning to hate that chick."

_Shadow world_

Naomi was in her wold form, running in the direction of the fortress. Hiei hung back, watching her closely. 'You must be raging if you're in this form.' She snapped her teeth at him.

'You know EXACTLY why I'm mad, Jaganshi. So don't start with me!' Hiei frowned then his emotionless face came up.

'I know. But wasting your energy just getting there isn't going to help anyone except the enemy!' Naomi growled then sighed.

'I never should have left. This is my fault. How could I let this happen?'

'Why did you leave if you knew there was danger?' Naomi launched herself at Hiei's back and landed squarely between his shoulder blades, sending him to the ground. Her teeth stopped a hair's breath from his neck.

'Do you think I would've left if I knew? And besides, I went to find you. I had hoped Gato could keep things together, but apparently, I was wrong.' Hiei struggled to throw Naomi off his shoulders.

'There, see? Gato's fault, not mine, so GET THE HELL OFF OF ME!' Naomi growled but got off him any way.

'Gato did a lot better job of being second in command then you could, Jaganshi! He actually gives a shit about someone other than himself! And at least he bothered to send me a message saying the village was under attack. I hadn't heard from you in over ten years, since you left. Then all of a sudden, you think you can just waltz back into my life? No, Jaganshi. Our village is destroyed, and it's all your fault!' Hiei glared into her eyes.

'We don't know if the village is destroyed or not! And until we destroy the fortress and get them out, we won't!' Naomi watched him, anger and amusement battling in her eyes. 'Not necessarily in that order.' Amusement finally won and Naomi silently laughed. But then she sighed and looked away from Hiei.

'Sorry, Hiei. It's just...since you left, we've had some...new additions to the family.' She started running again and Hiei went after her, keeping back a bit.

'And you're worried about them.' Naomi nodded sadly.

'They were new to the village. They arrived shortly after you left. Violent by nature, but quick learners. Just learning our ways. Then you're set date past, and you still weren't back. So I left the tutoring to Gato and left to find you.'

'Well...', Hiei hesitated, 'that was because...something...went wrong.' Naomi stumbled a bit as she burst out laughing.

'You got your ass caught. And by a human too!' Naomi stopped laughing slowly when Hiei glared at her.

'Shut up, wolf. It's not my fault the fox had a change of heart.' Naomi gave him a blank look. 'Say nothing, wolf.' And she didn't. The rest of the way was silent. They back-tracked down to the dungeons but passed the cells Kurama was held in. They came to a room with more than 20 locks on it, which they passed under effortlessly. Inside was enough people to fill a village. Naomi shifted to her twoleg form and a lone tear drifted down her face.

'The villagers.' Hiei silently put a hand on her shoulder and she brought them up near the back, in the darkness. The first one to notice them was a cat demon. Naomi smirked at him.

"Hey kitty kitty."

"Naomi!" The cat demon was large, furry, and had adorable kitty ears and a kitty tail. Naomi smiled apologetically. "About shittin time!"

"Hello Gato." She said politetly, despite the glimmer of amusement in her eyes. "Is anyone injured or unconscious?" Gato shook his head, grinning.

"Nope. Everyone healthy and accounted for! For evil kidnapping bastards, these guys treated us pretty well." A worried look came over her face as she looked through the crowd of villagers, who were either staring at her in mild surprise or glared heatedly at Hiei.

"Everyone?" Gato smirked and called someone from the crowd.

"Tsuki! Tsuki, come meet someone!" A small girl that looked ten in human years emerged from the crowd. She was small, with blue hair and crimson eyes. She smiled brightly at Naomi, but then her eyes passed over Hiei's. Hiei stared into eyes so much lik ehis own. Who was this girl?

"Father?" Well, that answers that question.

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Me: Ooh, bet you didn't see that coming. Or did you? Dun dun DUN! Either way, review please! 


	7. Family problems

Me: I still don't know why I put these up. Oh well. This is pretty much a filler chapter. More questions raised than answers given. R&R!

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Chapter 7: Conflicting family problems

Hiei stared at Tsuki then whirled around to stare at Naomi. Naomi didn't look at him and instead bent down to hug Tsuki. "Hi mama." Naomi hugged her tighter.

"Hi baby." She released Tsuki and finally looked up at Hiei, her eyes sad. Hiei looked between her and Tsuki. "I told you the last time I saw you on was on my back."

"This...I...She..." For once in his life, Hiei was floored. He couldn't even force himself to form a single coherent thought.

"Will any of these sentences be finished?" Gato said, smirking. Hiei either ignored him or didn't hear it. More than likely the second one.

"Is this...our..." He couldn't, wouldn't, say the word 'child'. Naomi nodded slowly.

"Yes, Hiei. This is our child. Hiei, meet Tsuki. Tsuki, this is your father." Tsuki stared at him, her eyes gradually growing colder. Without saying anything, she turned from him and stalked into the crowd. She stopped and looked back at Naomi.

"Everyone is conscious, but Minnow is sick." Naomi nodded and followed her daughter to an elderly demoness. Her green skin will pale and sagging, and her breathing was shallow. Naomi put a glowing hand on her heaving chest, and a warm lilac light surrounded Minnow. Color returned to her skin and her breathing evened out. Naomi helped her stand shakily.

"Easy, Minnow. How are you feeling?" Minnow smiled at Naomi.

"Better, thanks to you." Her voice was raspy and feeble, as if she hadn't spoken for many days. Or maybe it's because she was old. Who knows? Hiei looked on with a sullen expression. Naomi glared at him with flaring eyes.

"This is the village, the family, that you left. When we get everyone out, you may accompany us to the village, but then you must go. You left us. ALL of us. You no longer belong with our family." Hiei bent his head in respect, and when he looked up, his eyes were emotionless and hard.

"Understood. I lost my place in this village." 'And in your heart.' He added silently.

Tsuki eyes him coldly. "You didn't lose it. You surrendered it when you ran away." She said in a cold, quiet voice. Hiei stayed silent.

Naomi shook her head. "Enough of this. We can discuss it further when we escape." She walked to the back of the cell and held her hand out to Tsuki. "Tsuki, do you remember what I taught you about shadow travel?" Tsuki hesitated, then nodded. "Then take the elders to the shadow world. I'll meet you down there." A group of elderly demons surrounded Tsuki and touched her shoulder. Her eyes scrunched up in concentration and for the first time, Hiei saw her as a real child trying her hardest to do something. "Concentrate, Tsuki." Naomi whispered. "Push away all thoughts, nothing else exists. Concentrate on the shadows and push your power into them."

Tsuki cracked an eye open and glared at her mother. "It's kind of hard to concentrate when you're talking to me, mama." Naomi grinned and pretended to zip her mouth shut. Tsuki closed her eyes and concentrated again. She faintly glowed dark blue and the shadows rose around her and the elders, dragging them under.

Naomi glared at Hiei and growled out, "Jaganshi, stand watch near the cell door. If a guard comes, tell me." Hiei glared at her but hn'd and crouched near the cell bars.

Naomi and Tsuki took turns bringing the villagers to the shadow world. No guards came, so Hiei was just watching the cell quickly empty out. Soon, Naomi, Hiei, and Gato were the last ones in the cell. Hiei stood and walked over to them. Gato pat Hiei's back hard, nearly toppling him.

"Hey, Hiei! Sorry about the cold greeting. But after you betrayed us and all..." He trailed off, glaring at Hiei in hurt and anger. Hiei growled.

"I didn't betray the village! I told Naomi I would come back after I found my sister!" Naomi snarled viciously.

"And you found your sister. What did you do then?" Hiei opened his mouth, then closed it and looked away guiltily."Uh huh, yeah, that's what I thought. Now both of you, grab hold of me." They both touched her shoulder and all three melted into the shadows. In the shadow world, the villagers were gaping in awe at the world above them. Naomi and Tsuki exchanged amused glances before Naomi raised a hand for attention. The villagers turned their eyes to her. Her voice run loud with authority.

"To the south of here is a, as Tsuki used to say, humonstrous tree." She shot her scowling daughter an amused look. "Hiei and I will lead you there, where you will all wait." A ripple of unease spread through the crowd. Some stared at Naomi in a kind of pulsating incurdelity. A few were glaring at Hiei, not even bothering to hide the hostility. Naomi growled until silence fell on her village. "I expect you guys to treat him with the same respect you did when he was my second-in-command. None of you would have the peaceful lives you have now if Hiei and I didn't start this village."

"And," Gato added, "More than half of you would have been killed by Shin when he came to the village if Hiei hadn't protected us all." The silence grew heavier as some of the villagers dipped their head in agreement. "Hiei was always a proud son of a bitch," he added with a grin, "and he never let any of us down. Especially Naomi. Tsuki's proof of that."

Naomi's face turned red. "Shut up Gato!" She growled out. She covered her face with a hand until she got her blush under control. Naomi cleared her throat and faced the crowd. "Even if he's no longer of our village, he's a part of our past, and still my mate. All of us, including myself, owe him our lives. The least we can do is trust the bastard."

Hiei stared at Naomi in awe. If he didn't have control over himself, his jaw would have dropped. As it was, his eyes were wider than usual. She was just snarling at him, her and Gato, now they were both defending him. He gave his head a subtle shake and glared at them. 'I will never understand her.' He thought. Naomi looked at him in amusement and tapped her head. He raised an eyebrow, then realized. "Damn it." He curse quietly to himself. "I forgot again, didn't I?" He raised his voice to address Naomi. "We should head out. The sooner we get the village to the clearing, the sooner we can destroy the fortress, and the sooner all of you are out of my life for good."

A look of hurt flashed over Naomi's eyes before she hid it and nodded. They led the way to the clearing at a much slower pace than they first came. Naomi was at front, leading the demons behind her. Hiei one the side of the villagers, making sure no one strayed or fell behind. The villagers eventually stopped giving Hiei frigid and hateful looks and soon just ignored his presence altogether. All except Tsuki. Hiei tried to ignore the cold stare of the daughter he never knew he had, but it burned into his back. He finally turned and glared at her with the same iciness as her.

"What?" Tsuki didn't look away. Instead, her glare darkened further until Hiei felt a shudder run down his back. Not from fear, but from how much her eyes mirrored his own.

"I have no idea why Mother is letting you come with us." Hiei matched her dark glare before looking at Naomi, who was talking to Gato quietly.

"Neither do I." He fixed Tsuki with a stern face. "But you've no need to worry. As soon as we get back to the village, I'll disappear and you'll never see me again." Tsuki's glare lasted a few more moments before she nodded and dropped back behind Hiei, no longer glaring at him or acknowledging his existence. Hiei continued to stare at Naomi, but eventually sighted and turned his attention to the surface world. They were just now coming up to the big tree. And to his dismay, the three detectives were still there, plus Botan.

Hiei jogged up next to Naomi in time to hear her say, "It's the best for the village!" He elbowed her int he side and nodded up to the surface world. Naomi sighed and stopped, causing the villagers to stop as well. She turned to address them. "Hiei and I will emerge first and negotiate with the detectives. Regardless of it they agree or not to try anything Tsuki and I will bring you all up when I determine when it is safe enough."

"If at that time," Hiei said solidly from behind her, "they make any move to arrest any of you..." He glared at them all. "Knock them out. Under no circumstances so you kill them." An angry ripple ran through the watching crowd. "Gato can use one of his plants to wipe their minds if it comes to that. They will have no recollection of you. Your village and future will be safe from Koenma." Naomi raised a hand to silence the murmering.

"Hiei is right. The death of his detectives will bring Koenma's attention to us. When he realizes some of the most dangerous criminals in history are alive and together, he'll send trouble and we'll all have to move." Hiei put a hand on her should and they went up without another word.

Me: And that's the end of chapter seven.

Yusuke: Oh wow. That was boring.

Me: (shrug) I said it was a filler chapter. Okay, people who stayed awake through this crap I call my sanity, review and tell me what you thought. Be it good, or material for the fire to make s'mores-

Kurama: aka flames.

Me: -it will be highly appreciated and you may even get cookies! Yay cookies!


	8. Decisions

Me: (mumbling)

Kurama: Oh dear, she's mumbling to herself again. (sigh) oh well, I suppose I will do the disclaimer. (pulls card from no where) From Black Wolf Jaganshi Lover: I do not own YuYuHakusho. If I did, Kuwabara would be prettier, Yusuke would have stayed dead, and Hiei would be shirtless a lot more, showing off that hot and sexy body...(stares at me)

Me: (looks up; grin) You said it, not me. R&R!!

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Chapter 8: Decisions, decisions

Naomi and Hiei emerged from the ground behind the trees by Botan. Naomi stepped from behind the trees into the clearing. Hiei opted to stay in the shadows, as he usually does, cause he's an anti-social homicidal pyro midget. She gave a friendly nod to Botan then faced the boys. "One thousand years ago, a pair of thieves ran rampant throughout makai. They stole things from food to survive, to jewels to sell. A hundred years past, and the thieves grew old. Weary of a life of crime, they retired, and attempted to settle down. But no matter where they stayed, bounty hunters came after them, determined to take the reward for their deaths.

"No place was safe, so they had to stay hidden in order to live in peace. But peace it was not, for they lived, and died, in fear of being found." An awed silence followed her words. She looked in the eyes of everyone, her gaze landing last on Kurama. "Below us, in my world, is a village of ex-criminals who only wish to live in peace, without the fear of death and spirit world. When I bring them up from the dark, you will not arrest them." Yusuke broke the heavy silence.

"Why tell use this?" He said quietly. "We're spirit detectives. We're supposed to arrest demons who break the laws of Spirit World."

Her reply was sharp. "Because these demons are ex-criminals. None of them want any trouble and some of them..." Then her voice grew soft and she looked at the ground. "Some of them are only in danger because of who their parents are."

From where he was in the trees, Hiei didn't even need to read her mind to guess who she was talking about. 'Tsuki..." And thankfully, Kurama seemed to sympathize, because he was nodding with a faraway look in his eyes.

"Yes...Only want to live in peace..." Hiei suppressed a smirk. 'Using the fox's softness against them, even when she hates his kind, for the good of our...her village.' he frowned and looked at the ground. 'She truly is a great leader.' He looked up in time to see Kurama nod. "Agreed. We will not arrest them."

"SAY WHAT FOX BOY!" Yusuke shouted. He was livid at the fact this female, who just came out of no where, was able to order his team around. Kurama faced him calmly.

"There would be no reason to arrest these demons. IF what Naomi said is true." Hiei saw Naomi's tail beginning to bristle. He chose that moment to step from the shadows. One of Naomi's ears swiveled toward him, but she didn't move.

"Hello Hiei." Hiei 'hn'ed and stepped up till he beside Naomi.

"The wolf is speaking the truth." Four pairs of eyes blinked at him. Kurama and Botan shared an uneasy glance and Kurama cleared his throat.

"Hiei, how long have you been there?"

Naomi snickered. "Hiei came up with me. He's been here the whole time." She threw a teasing glance over to Hiei. "He's just shy." Hiei glared at her and gave a half hearted growl. It died in his throat though as Naomi kept grinning at him, and he eventually looked away. Naomi gave him the peace sign and stuck out her tongue. "Ha, I win!" She faced Yusuke. Her grin melted into a more serious expression. "I have told you the alibi of my village. Whether you believe me or not," she added with a glance at Kurama, "is your decision. But I warn you. If you do not listen to me and attempt to arrest them, all my villagers will protect one another, and you will find yourselves for more than fifty very angry and dangerous demons." She turned to go back into the trees, but stopped at Hiei's side. Without facing him, she asked, "You have the choice of coming with me, or staying here. What will you do?"

Hiei stared at her coldly and emotionlessly. "Hn. You're villagers are no longer my problem. I choose to stay with my team." Naomi's eyes saddened, then hardened. She understood the double meaning of his words. She nodded stiffly.

"Understood." She walked into the trees where the shadows took her.

Hiei stared at the spot where Naomi disappeared and looked away. His chest felt heavy, and his heart hurt as if cold claws were tearing at him. Of course, being the emotionless bad ass he is, he showed none of this to his teammates. Instead, he glared hotly at them. "If any of them are harmed, I will slit all your throats." The two humans cringed away and nodded quickly before slinking away to sit beneath the giant roots. But Kurama stayed. Hiei felt his gaze, even if he had his eyes closed as he sat by a different tree. After a few moments, Hiei became irked and snapped his eyes open to glare at Kurama. "What, fox?"

Kurama's eyes held amusement in them. "I thought the villagers weren't your problem anymore?" His tone was condescending. Hiei growled.

"I don't. But I want this mission over and done with, and Naomi won't go anywhere until she's sure her villagers are safe and out of harms way." Kurama's lips twitched into a smile.

"Yes, but you at least seem to have enough respect to call her by her name. Either that or perhaps...there's just something you aren't telling me?" His green eyes glinted mischievously. Hiei growled and glared death at Kurama.

"One more word, fox, and I'll-"

"You'll rip out his precious voicebox!" Botan chirped. She didn't even flinch when Hiei turned the glare on her. She instead blinked. "What? That's what you always threaten!" Kurama looked at her. "What!?" She said loudly.

"You don't seem to be afraid of Hiei anymore." Kurama said curiously. Botan smiled.

"Nope! Naomi fixed that for all of us when we were prisoners together! She told us a nice little story about him from her past. Something involving a river and a fish." Hiei's eyes widened unintentionally.

"She told you that!?" He yelled. His raised voice aroused the curiousity of the humans, who had randomly been playing a game of rock paper scissor (I forget what the anime called it). They exchanged looks before scurrying over to Botan.

"We want to hear it!" Kuwabara whined.

"Yeah!" Yusuke said. They both gave her puppy dog looks. "Please??" Botan sweat dropped and held her hands up.

"I would, but Naomi tells it so much better than I do." At that moment, a mound of shadows rose from a little ways off. The shadows melted back to the ground to show Naomi, Tsuki, and a bunch of demons from the village. Botan almost ran over to her. "Naomi-chan! Will you tell us the story you told the girls in the prison?" She pleaded. Naomi blinked at her for a moment before grinning almost evilly at Hiei.

"Sure, why not?" She turned to Tsuki. "Get the rest of the villagers. But only bring up two or three at a time. You still aren't strong enough to do more." Naomi sat on top of one of the roots. "Get comfy. This will take a while."

Me: And that's the end. I know, I know, it's horrid and short. But you're the ones who read it. Review please!


	9. Flashbacks

Me: And it's time for chapter-...(whispers) What chapter is this?

Yusuke: Don't ask me, I hardly pay attention to your crap.

Kurama: I believe this is chapter nine.

Me: (Still whispering) Thanks fox. I don't own YuYuHakusho. R&R please! This is a flashback chapter, so it will mostly be in Naomi's pov. Flashbacks will be italicized.

Naomi's notes

Chapter nine: Flashbacks

_I was standing on the side of a river. In my hand rested a wooden spear. I was tired, filthy, and hadn't eaten for three days, so I was willing to mortally embarass to the forces of nature by trying to fish. A fish swam nearer. My arm tensed and my grip on the spear tightened until splinters penetrated my hand. Bit I took no notice. I was only aware of my mouth watering at the prospect of the first bit of food I've had for days._

_But the sudden presence behind me and the constant flaring of energy kind of distracted me from the needs of my internal organs. "You're on my territory!" a voice snarled. The ferocity of it made me jump. Straight into the middle of the river._

_I knew how to swim, sure. There was only one problem. The river was deep, and the current was faster than I had first thought. It pulled me under. In my weakened state, I couldn't haul myself to the bank. The only way I'd survive was if I yelled for help. I broke the surface and opened my mouth to yell for help, but a wave crashed on top of my head, pushing my back under. Water rushed into my lungs, driving out all oxygen. They burned for ait, but each time I escaped the murky water, I was pulled under. Realization soon dawned on me._

_I was going to die, and there was nothing I could do about it._

_What strength I had left me then and when the next wave pulled me under, I stayed under. Spots entered my vision. I tried to blink them out, but each time my eyes closed, they got bigger. I surrendered to the darkness. But just before I blacked out, I thought I saw a black figure closing in on me. Great, eaten by some underwater thing in a bloody horrible mess is a MUCH better way to die than just drowning._

Naomi opened her eyes and looked around the clearing. She realized her villagers were listening with as much intensity as each of the spirit detectives, including Hiei. She suppressed a grin and closed her eyes again, revelling in the memories of a more peaceful time of her life.

_When I woke up, the sky was a dark violet. The horizon was just tinged with pink. orange, and blue, showing dawn was not far off. For the first time in my life, I was comfy. But experience has taught me lounge around in what might possibly be hostile territory. So I sat up and looked around. The first thing to enter my field of vision was a smoldering fire. Embers had long ago turned to ashes, but smoke still rose from it. A splash sounded and I turned again to find a body of water. I wasn't sure if it was the same river of my near death experience, but it wasn't the river that currently kept my attention._

_It was the drenched half naked boy standing in it. The only reason I was able to fight the blush off my face was because I could just see the tops of pants poking above the water. His back was to me, thank god. I say this because that blush was back once I caught sight of scarred, pearly white skin and rippling muscles. Black hair that obviously had an issue with obeying the laws of gravity was on top of his head. He looked about my age at the time, not that I could tell. His arms were raised, as if he were waiting for something._

_And guess what? I was right! His arms shot forward into the water, quickly retreating to pull out a huge silver fish wriggling in his arm. I admit, I was impressed. But that didn't last long as the fish jumped out of the boys hands, slapping him in the face before plunging back into what I'm sure it thought was safely. The boy growled and uttered a curse before following it, once again pulling out the same fish._

_"Gotcha!" He whispered. But the fish wriggled of out his grasp again. But the boy caught the fish before it could escape back into the water. But again the fish escaped it's bonds. This repeated a few times, while I merely sat on the sidelines, holding down my snickering. The fish, thinking it needed to try different tactics, almost slithered over the boy's shoulder and into his pants. The boy squeaked and it was all I could do just then to not burst out laughing. He hopped up and down, shaking his leg to dislodge the fish. This worked, if you count knocking yourself off balance and splashing face first into the water working._

_When he came back up, all self-control I had over my laughter went, WHOOSH! Out the window. His hair was completely limp, falling over his shoulders. The fish lay, now limp, in his arms. My laughing riot must have drawn his attention, for he looked over and glared at me with crimson eyes. My laughter subsided a little, now only small, spontaneous giggles. "I hope that fish is for me. I'm starving!" I said with a smile._

_The boy 'Hn'ed and glared at me. "You're awake. You can catch your own food." My stomach growled and he raised an eyebrow._

_I chuckled nervously as I poked my stomach. "I haven't eaten in over...How long was I out?"_

_The boy looked at the rising sun with an almost thoughtful expression. I couldn't really tell, since he kept his face stoic. "About four dawns."_

_I nodded. "Okay. Then I haven't eaten in over a week. Gods, my stomach must be caving in on itself!" I walked down near him but didn't enter the water. I think I had a perfectly good reason to be scared shit-less of it now. "And I would have eaten a week ago, had someone not, you know, scared the shit out of me."_

_His response was a growl. "You shouldn't have been hunting on my territory!"_

_I grinned apologetically. "Sorry. I didn't know this was anyone's territory. Do I have permission to survive now?"_

_The boy's glare darkened at my sarcasm and he 'hn'ed. "Only until you're fit enough to travel. Then get out."_

_I blinked at the suddenly empty space in front of me. "Thank you!" I shouted to nothing._

Naomi smiled at Hiei's red face. His eye had a tic in it and his hand twitched toward his kitana. Hiei's human teammates were currently rolling on floor in laughter. Kurama covered his face to cover his chuckles. Botan had her face pressed into his shoulder, her shoulders shaking in laughter. Hiei growled and glared death at Naomi. She grinned. "You were so cute back then! Not entirely sure when that changed though." She narrowed her eyes at him. "It was probably the first time I saw you kill."

Botan raised her head from Kurama's shoulder. Hiei made a mental note to tease the fox about it later. Her eyes sparkled curiously. "You didn't tell us that story, Naomi."

Naomi gave Botan a friendly smile. "Would you like to hear it?" All nodded eagerly. Except for Hiei, who glowered angrily at her.

_It's been a few moons after I was saved by the boy with the weird hair. Seriously, it was freakish! I bet if you pushed it down, it'd just shpoing back up! I haven't seen him since he disappeared that day. Too bad, I wanted to try it. I'm almost back to full strength now. I always keep my word, so I'm getting ready to leave what's-his-face's territory when I trip on something._

Naomi grinned down at Botan. "Guess who it was."

Botan just stared at her blankly. "Uh...Hiei?"

Naomi's grin widened. "Nope!"

_I glared down at what tripped me up, but froze in the process of getting off my knees. It was a head. The head of a demon, to be precise. It's eyes were wide and glazed over with death. But it's lips were drawn back, signalling it went down fighting. The demon's body; or I'm guessing it's this demon's body, since it was missing a head; lay a few feet away, mangled and broken. Both of it's arms were gone, hacked off by...something. 'What the hell could do this?' Then I spotted a trail of blood, leading away from the body, or what was left of it. Curiosity got the best of me, and I followed it._

_The trail didn't exactly go very far. After about five minutes, the trail came to a burning clearing. Bodies littered the ground. And in the center of the destruction was the boy with the weird hair. He stood wobbly and clutched at his arm. A gash ran from his shoulder to his wrist, and blood trickled down his face, dripping off his chin. __"What the hell?" I muttered. The boy's head whipped around to me. But the momentum made his stumble and he collapsed on the ground with a grunt. I slowly approached him and crouched at his side. He growled, but didn't push me away. He winced when I touched his wound and his growl grew louder. "Oh my god..." I whispered. "What happened to you?"_

_His answer was strained. "None...of your..." He never finished his sentence because he passed out against me. A growl made my head snap to the left. A demon had survived the boy's onslaught. It stood up, easily towering over my petite 4'5" height. It's eyes glittered menecingly as it's gaze landed on the unconscious boy in my arms._

_"Well," It said in a gravelly voice, "It appears the Forbidden Child isn't as powerful as his reputaion says." He took a step forward and my arms tightened instinctively around the boy. The demon seemed to realize I was there for the first time. "Alright, girly. You gots one chance. Give me the Forbidden Child, and I might let you live."_

_I looked between the boy who saved my life and the demon who threatens it. I had a choice to save myself, or risk my life for someone whose name I don't even know. Whose ass do I save?_

_End Chapter Nine_

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Me: Alrighty all, this is my first attempt at first person. Personally, I think it's a good chapter! But I'm the writer, not the reviewer. That would be you lovely people. So please, review?


	10. Fear the boom

Me: Heyo! (Raises hand for high five)

Readers: (cricket cricket)

Me: (Slowly lowers hand) ooooookaaaaaaaaaay then. First of all, I would like to thank my lovely reviewers from last chapter, Scrunchy #don't even ask#, Littlekawaifirefox #Gah, long name!#, and probably two of my favorite authors on Fanfiction, EVER, Blackbelt and psychicfiredemoness! #huggles all four# You guys are awesomely awesome!!

Hiei: Dear Gods, she's hyper.

Me: Nu uh!

Hiei: How do you explain that bag of candy behind your back?

Me: Uh...(Shifty eyes) Happy birthday Hiei! #shoves bag into Hiei's arms#

Hiei: What the-

Me: R&R!

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Chapter 10: Fear the Boom

When Naomi opened her eyes again, she found everyone looking up at her in a daze, almost as if they were mesmerized by her words. She smiled and jumped down next to Gato. "Is that everyone?"

Gato stared at her blankly, his eyes losing their glazed look. He shook his shaggy head. "Yeah, I think so." He mumbled.

Naomi nodded and grinned back at Hiei. "Oh Hiei! Want to play a game?"

Hiei glared at her, and he 'hn'ed. "Hn, I refuse to play your childish-" But he cut off. Suddenly, Hiei smirked. "Wait. You don't play childish games."

Naomi's grin widened. "Nope! It's time for a rousing game of 'Who has the best Idea to destroy the freaking fortress that held my village'!" She summoned Hiei with a flick of her Wolfie tail before walking towards the forest.

Kuwabara then stepped forward, stammering. "W-Wait! You're just going to leave us hanging? What happened to the boy? Is he dead?"

About half the villagers anime-fell. Everyone else, including Naomi and Hiei, just stared at him blankly. Naomi sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose, her eyes closed. "Human," she muttered, "Even for your species, your intelligence is pathetically low. If I wasn't rushed for time, I would castrate you here and now, just to save the human world the ache of having two of you."

Yusuke burst out laughing at the threat. Naomi stared at him strangely for a second before inching away. Kurama was trying to be polite and not laughing. But that was a losing battle straight from the start. He was doing a very poor job of it, if his red face and biting his lip was anything to go by. Botan had her face back into Kurama's shoulder, her shoulders shaking even more in laughter. Hiei smirked at Kuwabara's shell-shocked face before nodding to Naomi and going into the forest.

Naomi hurried after him, but turned back. "My friends!" She called her village. "I beg of you, please, stay close to the detectives! They have promised me they will not harm or arrest you. But if they do, you know what to do." Her villagers nodded. Naomi disappeared into the trees where Hiei was waiting for her. He opened his mouth to say something, but Naomi held a hand up to silence him. She placed a hand on his shoulder and the shadows rose up around them.

When they were in the Shadow world, Naomi didn't move her hand from Hiei's shoulder. "For what it's worth," she said quietly, "I'm still wondering if I made the right decision in protecting you." She released him and ran away, towards the fortress.

Hiei stayed rooted to the spot, staring after her with wide, stunned eyes. "She regrets not letting him kill me?" He whispered to himself. Then he stood up straighter and narrowed his eyes. "If that's how she feels, then fine. I don't need her anyway. I was just fine without her for ten years. I can live without her."

Naomi looked back at him. "Are you having fun talking to yourself? Or do you want to come and blow the place up?"

Hiei glared at her. "I don't need you to do that."

Naomi narrowed her own eyes. "But you do need me to get you out of here. So unless you want to be wandering the darkness for all eternity like a tortured soul, come."

Hiei snarled. "I am NOT a damn DOG to come at your command!"

Naomi growled dangerously. "Oh, so then you AREN'T Koenma's lap dog? You DON'T go to him when he summons you? You DON'T do what the fucking toddler says?"

Hiei's eyes flashed red, but he said nothing. He instead barged past Naomi, shoving her aside. "Let's just get this over with. I want you and the others out of my life as soon as possible." Hiei didn't see the flash of pain in Naomi's eyes before they hardened and she nodded.

The journey to the fortress was made in silence. But that was okay. Both were content to be left alone. Soon, the prison-like building was looming above them. Naomi paused to glance up at it before leading the way right to the heart of the place, deep in the center.She paused underneath a large room with four furnaces. Four conveyor belts fed a constant stream of coal into each of their gaping mouths. The walls were lined with trams filled to the brim with the black, burnable stones. Multiple robotic hands were shoveling the coal onto each conveyor belt.

Naomi sneered at it. "Technology is for Ningenkai. Demons shouldn't be using it. It's not made for our world."

Hiei stared at it. "Perhaps the being behind the kidnap of your village is human."

Naomi's ear flicked at the word 'your', but she made no other movement. "Hiei, the village is made up of demons, humans, half-breeds, and all sorts of creatures. I don't care how powerful a human is, it can't kidnap an entire village." Her eyes scanned the entire room. "But what is the purpose of so much coal?" Her eyes finally caught sight of pipes, leading from each furnace to a single pipe that went into the next room. "The furnaces are just a front. That coal isn't used for heat at all."

Hiei's eyes narrowed. "At least, not temperature heat." Naomi glanced at him inquisitively. "During my...," he hesitated to find the right word, "travels," Naomi snorted, "I have heard talk of a new weapon powered by natural elements. I never bothered to figure out what element powered them. But maybe..." He trailed off.

Naomi nodded and followed the single pipe through two more rooms. When the pipe ended, Naomi stopped and stared in astonishment before turning to Hiei, smirked. "Hiei, I think we have found our means of destroying the base."

#With detectives and villagers#

The villagers stared at the detectives with distrusting and slightly fearful eyes. The only one that paid them any attention was Botan. She stared back at them, nervous sweat dripping down her face. She wasn't as strong as the boys, so she had every right in the three worlds to be nervous at the threatening stares. Yusuke tugged her ponytail, pulled her head backwards to stare at him. She blinked at him upside down half-smile. "You aren't scared of them, are you?"

Botan chuckled nervously before gravity finally took it's toll, and she fell backwards onto her back. "Ow..." She groaned before sitting up. "Or course I am!" She stood up and glanced back at the crowd of demons. "That entire crowd is made up of demons that could rip me apart! I'm not you boys, I can't defend myself!" She was quickly growing hysterical, and she knew it. But Botan didn't try to stop herself. She just continued her rant. "You're strong, Kurama's smart, Hiei's fast, Kuwabara is..."She had to think for a bit. "Brave?" She said lightly.

Kurama smiled at her softly. "And you are very resourceful, Botan. But don't worry. We won't let anything hurt you."

Botan puffed a sigh of relief before returning Kurama's smile. But an explosion sounded in the distance before she could even open her mouth. The entire forest shook, causing people to stumble and/or fall to the ground. The branches on the great tree creaked as they swayed. A blue blur rushed into the clearing, following quickly by a black blur. Naomi and Hiei appeared in the center of the clearing, panting. Naomi's eyes were shining and, despite still catching her breath, she was bouncing around Hiei in circles.

"That was AWESOME!" She shouted, coming to a stop next to him. She smiled brightly at him before shifting her feet excitedly. "I take it back; I'm glad I rescued you."

Hiei turned his eyes to her shining black ones and for a second, had a problem getting his breath back. 'So she doesn't hate me??' he thought confusedly. Hey, just because Hiei didn't SHOW emotions, it doesn't mean he HAS none. He mentally shook his head while physically rolling his eyes. "I couldn't care less about it." He said. This time, he did see the flash of pain in her eyes. He instantly felt guilty, but kept his eyes cold. 'It's better this way.' He thought sullenly. Hiei turned his back on Naomi and stated in a cold voice. "Move out. Now. I don't want you breathing the same air as me for much longer."

A growl rose from every demon in the crowd, but Naomi silenced it with a wave of her tail. Her next words were harsh, but Hiei knew her well enough to know that she was hiding her pain and sadness from her villagers. "Then at least escort us home. Your ex-kin are still weak from their containment." Her gaze was challenging. "You owe us all at least this much."

Hiei growled and glared at her. "Fine!" He snarled out. She knew his honor code wouldn't let him leave a debt unpaid. But inside, he was happy. She wanted him around. He spun on his heel and stormed over to the big tree. He surveyed the village with a cold eye. 'They won't go far tonight.' He went back to Naomi. "They won't be strong enough to go ANYWHERE without some rest." He glared at his ex-villagers. "You heard me! Go to sleep, and get a lot of rest. We move out early tomarrow." He ordered before flitting to the forest.

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Me:I typed all that in two days. And for the first time, I didn't write the entire thing before I typed it up!

Hiei: Wow. Miraculous.

Me: growl Silence, Jaganshi. Review please!


	11. Looking on the Past

Me: *sigh* Unfortunately, I'm aware of how long it's been since I updated. My sincerest and deepest apologies to you all. I hope to make up for the long wait with this chapter.

Hiei: *snort* Yeah, we'll see how long that lasts.

Me: *glare*...*sigh* Yeah, you're probably right. Read and Review, please!

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Chapter...whatever: Father-Daughter Time

The sun rose much too quickly for Hiei's liking. Dawn filtered into the little clearing he stood in, chasing away the darkness that he so loved. Sweat appeared on his face and dripped off his chin, despite the cool temperatures of the Makai night. In his hand, his sword dripped with blood. Hiei sighed and, after wiping his blade on the hide of the demon that had tried to get near the sleeping villagers, sheathed his sword. But the fire demon hesitated in returning. If he knew Naomi- and he did, rather well, actually- she would still be angry with him. She could hold a grudge when she wanted to, and hold it well.

So Hiei opted instead to settle in a tree, watching the night bleed into day. He couldn't help to remember how, just two night ago, he and Naomi had watched the sun rise together. Now that was a shock. Had it really only been two days? Two days since he had been on her good side. Three days since he had reunited with her. And two days since he had found out that he had a daughter. Admittedly, a daughter that hated him, but a daughter all the same.

And could Hiei really blame Tsuki for hating him? He'd been gone her entire life. He had never even bothered to check in on Naomi, on their- _her, _he reminded himself- village. And, quite honestly, he had no reason to _want_ to check in on them. They were demons; they shouldn't need him to check in on them. Hell, Naomi shouldn't have even _started _the stupid village. Demons were meant to live on their own, take care of themselves, not take shelter when they grow old and live from the hospitality of a single wolf demoness. Granted, he wouldn't be alive if it weren't for said wolf demoness, but still!

With a resigned sigh, Hiei stood on his branch and closed his eyes, lifting his face to the skies above. He would need all the strength he could muster to endure his fate.

**_With Naomi and others_**

Naomi, too, was watching the dawn come. She was the first among the villagers to rise. But that wasn't anything new. She was one of those 'gets up too damn early in the morning' type of demons. At least, that was what Hiei had used to call her. It had, once upon a time, been an almost affectionate term between the two. Naomi's thoughts were along the same as her favorite fire demon's, but with one added thought. Today, they would be heading home.

A rustle of leaves in the nearby brush made one of her wolf ears twitch. A quick sniff of the air, and her clenched muscles relaxed. It was only Hiei. But her eyes widened in alarm as she caught a second scent. The scent of blood. The last time Hiei had come back with blood mixed with his scent was when he brought back news that Kurama was taken. Naomi's dull black eyes darted across the sleeping bodies in the clearing, taking count that everyone was there. She nodded to herself that everyone was indeed present before she fell silently from her perch, waiting for him.

Hiei emerged from the tree line like a specter, making no sound but for his quiet breathing. He nodded at Naomi, not at all surprised to see her up already. He half-turned back to the forest, motioning with his head for her to follow him. Naomi hesitated before nodding as well and followed after him. This time, though, she kept well away from him. Hiei didn't even mind one single bit. It made it that much easier to ignore that little voice in his head telling him to apologize and beg her forgiveness.

Naomi's face scrunched up in disgust as they entered the clearing where Hiei had left the deceased demons. "Ugh! That stench is almost as bad as fox! Why have you led me here?"

Hiei smirked at her face before looking at the carcass of the snake demon. "Snake demons. This forest is infested with them. The villagers are sleeping practically right in the middle of a nest. We should wake them up and get them moving before the rest of the bunch comes looking for this one."

Naomi's eyes widened in alarm as his words finally registered. "Fucking hell, we've got to move!" She whispered, spinning and getting ready to dart back to where they had left everyone. Hiei was about to follow her when he suddenly took in a sharp breath. Naomi turned to him, and her eyes widened farther upon seeing the shaft of an arrow protruding from his shoulder.

Time seemed to slow down for Naomi as she watched a single droplet of blood start to form where the arrow connected with Hiei's body. It slowly started to slide along the shaft, leaving a red trail where ever it touched. It gathered on the end before gravity did it's thing, and brought the crimson liquid to the floor. Hiei's face pinched with sudden pain, and he stared at the arrow in shock.

From the corner of her eye, Naomi caught the glimmer of a second arrow approaching, aimed right at where Hiei's heart was. A single, tortured "NO!" slipped from her mouth before her body switched to auto-pilot. She slammed herself into Hiei, being careful to avoid the wound, and shoved him out of the way.

Hiei watched, horrified, as the point of an arrow firmly embedded itself into Naomi. It was the one and only time in history Hiei was thankful she was taller than him. The weapon that had been aimed at his heart was only next to hers. He almost puffed out a sigh of relief when Naomi suddenly coughed. Blood dribbled slowly down her lips as she coughed again. An image of one of Kurama's biology books in the Human World shoved itself into Hiei's mind. A picture of a living organism's body. _'The lungs are right next to the heart...!' _Hiei remembered.

Naomi began to fall forward, but Hiei caught her. He hastily picked her up bridal style, cradling her head against his chest, before listening carefully. Her breathing was shallow and quick, like she wasn't getting enough air. Hiei cursed roughly before nearly flying through the forest. Instincts pushed any thought he may have had out of his head. He had to save Naomi. Hiei didn't even pause to wonder about who attacked them, or go find them.

He burst into the clearing in time to see the faint stirring of some demons waking up. Naomi didn't have enough time to wait for them all. "ALL OF YOU, WAKE THE GOD DAMN HELL UP!" He roared to all of them. Every single villager, plus his team, was instantly jerked awake. A few demons turned to glare at him, but identical looks of horror were plastered onto their expressions as they saw the limp, bleeding Naomi in his arms.

What followed next was utter chaos. Demons were shouting, asking questions, some even accusing him of doing this. Of the third group, he ignored. Hiei dashed into the crowd, searching for the two demons he knew could help Naomi. As he searched, he sub-consciously shouted orders to everyone. "Gato, I'm not sure if anyone followed me or not. Throw up a vine barrier, just in case."

Gato nodded, also sub-consciously following orders. "You won't find Dante with us, if you're looking for him. He died a while back. But Miyoma can help." He called someone from the watching demons and a middle-aged woman stepped out. Dark green hair was pinned to her head in a messy bun, leaving her bangs to hang limply on a smooth forehead.

The demoness nodded to Hiei, almost respectfully. "Greetings, Hiei-san. I am Miyoma, the current healer of our village. Please, lay Naomi-sama on the floor." Hiei did so without argument. Miyoma, seemingly for the first time, saw the arrow shaft sticking out of the shoulder. "You are hurt as well." She said calmly, looking at the blood steadily dripping from his shoulder.

Hiei met her eyes, which he just noticed were a cerulean blue, just as calmly as her. "Yes, but I'm not the one that may possibly have a punctured lung, am I? Just get to work on Naomi. We'll set out once you deem her well enough to be carried." Miyoma nodded in understanding before looking down at the unconscious wolf demon. Hiei left her to her work. He may not know her, but the only way for a demon to become a healer in their village was by learning from the current healer. Miyoma would have had to learn from Dante to gain her status.

The fire demon took a deep breath, able to think clearly again now that Naomi was out of danger. _'We'll have to find whoever did this and make sure they don't relay our position to anyone.' _But first, he had to get the arrow out of his shoulder. He took a firm grip on the shaft of the wooden weapon and pulled. It came out without much struggle. He hurried over to Gato, who was already busy planting seeds from a pouch on his belt. "Do we have anyone here that's a good tracker?"

Gato paused in putting another seed into the ground before shaking his head. "No, not really. What Naomi usually did was take Abaji under and then set him loose on whatever unlucky bastard decided to try and hurt us. But when she's out of commission like this..." The cat demon trailed off, casting a worried glance at Naomi.

The words escaped Hiei almost before he could even think them. "She'll be fine. What about the girl? What has Naomi taught her?"

A growl sounded behind him, and Hiei turned to see Tsuki glaring balefully at him. "None of your business." She turned her glare on Gato. "And why are you letting _him_," she sneered the word, "take over? You should be in charge! He's been gone for more than my entire life. Why should we follow his orders?" Hiei narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to snap at her, but the small wolf child went on before he could utter a sound. "And what happens if Mama dies? Huh? Is he going to lead us home and then stay with us?"

Tsuki continued on with her rant, but Hiei didn't listen. So, _that's _what this was about? She was worried Naomi would die? Hiei almost chuckled at the thought. He glared at her, cutting off her next words. "Naomi isn't going to die, child. She's stronger than that."

She whirled around to glare at her. Hiei almost took a step back at the watery look she had in her eyes. "And how would you know!" She screamed, turning a few heads. The heat started to go up, making some of the furrier demons back away. "You've been gone for more than 100 years! If I hadn't inherited your midget genes, I'd probably be as tall as that god-damned fox over there!" She gestured to where the gaping detectives stood. As she continued yelling, the temperature kept going up.

This whole time, Yusuke and the others stared back and forth between Hiei and Tsuki. All three, even Kurama, were speechless at this turn of events. Yusuke, surprisingly, was the first to recover. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" He said loudly, stomping forward. The crowd parted to let him through, as if he had the plague. He was used to this treatment, however, and just brushed it off. "Small brat say what?" He pointed at Tsuki, ignoring the glare both she and Hiei sent at him. "I may not be school-smart, but I know a thing or two about demon inheritances. Are you saying that this little fucker," he thumbed over a Hiei, "is your dad?"

At Tsuki's stiff nod, Kurama took over. "And, if I understand this correctly, Naomi is your mother?" Again, a crisp nod. Kurama's face fell into a thoughtful expression, his emerald eyes glancing back and forth between father and daughter. Now that he actually paid attention, there were similarities between the two. Both stood with muscles tensed, as if waiting for an attack. Two pairs of identical crimson eyes were narrowed at him, suspicion clear in both depths. And, just faintly, he could detect a bit of Hiei's aura in Tsuki's. Kurama could only think to say one word as his eyes flashed a mischievous gold. "Interesting..." He murmured.

Hiei caught the start of a grin flitting across the fox's face, and became instantly worried. "Fox," he said sharply, "whatever idea is running through that crowded head of yours, get rid of it_ now. _Naomi already doesn't like foxes. If you interfere too much with the villagers, or anything at all, she's going to have Gato here," he tilted his head toward the smirking cat demon, "erase all of your memories and the five of us..." he trailed off, running his gaze across his group and counting in his head. Yusuke...Kurama...himself...Kuwabara... Hiei heaved an exasperated sigh, wanting to smack himself in the face. "Where did the ferry onna go?" He half-groaned, half-growled.

Kuwabara and Yusuke blinked and looked around, the look of panic beginning to line their features. But Kurama simply smiled and looked over where Hiei had left Naomi. Hiei followed his gaze and growled. Botan was hovering over Miyoma's shoulder, looking worriedly at the injured wolf demoness. "Onna!" He called, making her head snap up to blink at him. "Stay near the detective and the oaf. If we're attacked before Naomi gets better, I can't guarantee your safety."

Everyone near Tsuki had to take a leap back from the sudden heat wave that emanated from her. She snarled at Hiei, the whites of her eyes a startling scarlet. Hiei was reminded of when he himself got pissed off. "Are you insinuating that we can't protect her?" She snarled.

Instead of answering, Hiei smacked her upside the head. "Calm down, brat!" He barked, reminding Yusuke way too much of Genkai. Tsuki rubbed the spot Hiei had hit, glaring at him, but nonetheless took a deep breath. The heat immediately started to go down. Hiei sighed, looking away. "Congratulations, brat. You've unlocked your fire powers. Now get someone to teach you how to control them, before you burn the entire forest down."

Tsuki grunted, looking every bit like Hiei's offspring. A dark aura was starting to blaze around her as she glared near evilly at her father. "The only fully matured fire demon in this clearing right now is you. And I'd much sooner gnaw my own arm off than learn under you, asshole."

A sudden booming laugh from Gato made both Hiei and Tsuki turn twin looks of pure annoyance on him. The furry giant just shook his head and threw his arm around Tsuki, bringing her head in closer for a noogie. Tsuki whined a bit, trying to get away, but Gato's hold was too tight. "You really are your father's daughter, Tsuki!" Either he didn't notice how Tsuki froze, or he just plain ignored it.

A few moments passed before Tsuki seemed to awake from a daze. She scowled and glared rather evilly at Gato, her now mussed up hair falling into her eyes. "What in God's name are you going on about, you stupid ball of fur?" She growled, scowling.

Gato smirked, still chuckling a bit. "The short bastard would rather usually inflict bodily harm on himself than spend too much time in the village. He was never really, what Naomi would call, a social butterfly." His smirk widened a tiny bit as he sensed more saw one of Hiei's eyes twitch.

Hiei growled, and his hands twitched with the urge to wrap about the massive cat demon's throat. "And just what, cat, is that supposed to mean?" He hissed lowly. He stroked the hilt of his katana, wondering at the wisdom of disemboweling Gato right then and there.

Gato grinned evilly and lowered his head next to Tsuki's. In a fake-whisper, just loud enough for the ENTIRE clearing to hear, said, "Wow, it's a good thing you got your mother's brains, eh kid?" Everyone around stopped what they were doing when Hiei snarled and lunged at Gato, sword still neatly in it's sheath. He would choke that stupid idiot with his own bare hands! Gato easily plucked Tsuki off of the ground and threw her over to Kurama, dodging Hiei with a grace that belayed his massive size. "Woo-wee, Hiei! You've gotten slower since I last riled you up!"

So far into his sudden rage was Hiei that he couldn't form any actual words. All that came from him was a few guttural snarls before he pounced again. This time, he caught Gato in the gut with a fist, and Hiei smirked sadistically as the giant cat demon grunted and doubled over slightly. He was caught off guard when Gato returned the smirk, and struck out at him with Bamboo swords. Hiei cursed and backed off slightly, the tip of the weapon catching on his cloak and biting slightly in his flesh. "Ha, you've also gotten cocky since our last spar, old man." Gato taunted, crouching down. He held his two swords to his side, keeping them in an attack position.

Hiei took a deep breath, reigning in his anger just enough to ground out some audible words to his companions. "Kurama, finish what this fool started with the vine shield. Plant seeds around the exterior of the clearing. I'll brief you further later."

Kurama blinked in shock. He was completely speechless, which seemed to be occurring more and more often since Naomi's rescue. He'd never, _ever _heard his short friend use such a commanding tone, least of all to him! He could only nod his head and stroll over to where Gato had stopped. Tsuki watched him go, her eyes cold and calculating. She looked up at Yusuke and Kuwabara, who were watching the fight attentively. "The fox seems disturbed that _Father_," she said, emphasizing the word with disdain, "has handed out orders. I take that to mean he doesn't do it often?"

Yusuke nodded, his eyes darting back and forth as Hiei and Gato attacked and blocked. It had a certain grace to it, like a dance. He was unused to any of Hiei's fights lacking their usual savagery. "Yeah, the little prick hardly talks at all unless it's to insult this dumb ass here." Kuwabara grumbled, but was smart enough not to draw attention to himself. "It's kinda a shock to us all, to be honest with ya. Usually Hiei just sits in a corner and steams about the latest thing about humans that piss him off. Just last week, he refused to admit that boxers might be a good idea."

After a moment of silence, he glanced at Tsuki to see her return the glance, hers filled with a kind of childish curiosity. "...What are boxers?" She asked innocently.

The one simple, innocent question was enough to send the team leader into hysterics. Kuwabara, having heard her question, snapped his head away from the fight and spluttered indignantly. "The hell, kid! What kinda question is that!" Yusuke, at the sight of his best friend's face, howled even louder. "Shut up Urimeshi!" The human yelled, shaking his fist. "It ain't that funny!" Yusuke only spluttered unintelligible sounds, still laughing hard. Kuwabara snarled and pounced of him, tackling him to the floor.

Tsuki watched the two wrestle on the floor and sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "I'm beginning to think that this is common for them." She told the red-haired fox demon she knew was behind her.

Kurama gave a long-suffering sigh and hid his face. "Unfortunately, yes. This is quite a common occurrence with our team." He looked over at the spar between Hiei and Gato with interest, watching sparks fly off of the colliding blades. "Do you suppose anyone would mind if I asked a few questions?"

He waited with the patience he was blessed with for an answer. After a silence, he heard Tsuki shuffle about. "You can ask if you want, but I don't guarantee an answer. Most of the villagers have a kind of grudge against your kind." Kurama frowned at the way she said 'your kind', but let it pass. "I suggest asking Minnow, the old demoness that mama healed." Kurama looked at her curiously, and Tsuki remembered that he wasn't there when Minnow was sick. She pointed at a group of five old women, clustered near the edge of the clearing and watching the fight intently.

Without another word, Kurama left Tsuki and went toward the small group. On his way, he studied them. All had sagging skin that seemed to just hang from their bones, and large wrinkles and crinkles on their faces. Only one of them spotted him coming, and she quickly alerted the whole group. All of the old women turned to watch his approach, and Kurama was surprised to see how sharp and alert all of them were. He stopped a respectful distance away. "Hello there!" He said politely. "I am searching for the one called Minnow. Tsuki said you could possibly provide some answers to my questions."

One of the old demons stepped forward, and Kurama instinctively snapped his gaze to her. She seemed to be the oldest one of the small group. And, as he looked around, he concluded that she was the oldest in the entire village. Her eyes, despite her obvious age, glowed with warmth and kindness. She gave him a smile that reflected her eyes. "I am Minnow. I make no promises, but I will answer whatever questions you have to the best of my ability." With obvious difficulty, she sat on the ground and motioned for the others in the group to follow. After a moment's hesitation, Kurama went forward and joined the small group. "Now, what questions do you want to ask?"

So many questions appeared in his mind that he didn't know where to start. Finally, he decided on the most personal one. "Naomi seems to hold a grudge against me, and yet I cannot recall any incident in my life, this one or my previous one, where I had done her wrong." He said softly. "I would very much like to know why she dislikes me so much."

To his surprise, this elicited a discussion between all of the demons in front of him. The four women that sat behind Minnow leaned forward to whisper to her. Minnow spoke little, only nodding and shaking her head. She would on occasion whisper something harshly to them, until they leaned back. Minnow faced forward again, her wizened face rather serious. "Please understand, detective, that I put both Naomi-sama and our village at risk by explaining this." Kurama nodded gratefully, and Minnow went on. "Have you ever met a demon by the name of Shin?"

Kurama kept his face neutral, but a pang of dislike smashed through him like a brick. "In truth, he was my mentor. He's the one that taught me how to be a thief." He watched with interest as the group in front of him exchanged wide-eyed and horrified looks. "I assume you've had your own dealings with him in the past?"

The grave look to the Minnow's face disturbed him greatly, but the great fox demon kept his face stoic. "It'd be best that you don't mention that small tidbit of information to anyone else." She rasped. Her voice sounded like two stones grinding together. "He was not a much-loved demon in his short time among us." She nodded sagely at Kurama's sharp intake of breath. "Oh yes, he spent about 2 years with us before Naomi-sama had enough of him. A rather brutish man Shin was, set into his ways of violence and torture. Naomi had tried to teach him peace herself, but he was much too wild. He tried to kill Naomi-sama on more than one occasion, and she and Hiei simply waved it off."

Kurama used the pause to fire off another quick question. "Forgive me for interrupting, but it perplexes me why you give Naomi the honorific of a leader while Hiei is just plain Hiei. Is there a story behind that, or is it just his, from what I can derive, disappearance?"

One of the demonesses sneered, and turned her nose into the air. "That bastard deserves no respect, let alone an honorific." She was silenced by a glare from Minnow, and turned away from the whole group. "Bloody arse even went as far as to befriend a stinking fox too." She grumbled, just loud enough for Kurama's demonic hearing to catch.

Minnow scowled at her before facing Kurama. "Please, forgive Kiyoko. She can hold grudges when she wants to, and Hiei's leaving affected all of us deeply." Kurama frowned but nodded, storing that information away for later reflection. "As I was saying, Hiei and Naomi-sama simply waved off Shin's disturbances, saying that he had lived a long time in blood and that it would take time for him to get used to the idea of peace. Whenever he got really bad, Hiei would simply knock him out, without ever spilling a drop of blood. Perhaps it was Naomi-sama's influence, but back then Hiei wasn't as blood thirsty as he is now."

Now _that _was a violent shock. Hiei, the most violent person Kurama had ever met after his own mentor, refusing to spill blood? He turned to look incredulously at his best friend's fight, and winced at the slashes on Gato's arms and legs. "I do not mean to sound disrespectful, but I can hardly believe that."

Minnow followed his gaze, and Kurama was surprised to see a gentle smile curve her mouth. "You can tell, of course, that they are both holding back? The slashes on Gato's arms aren't deep, and the marks on his legs aren't straight enough to be from a sword. He probably just fell, and those are the results of scrapes and scraps." As she spoke, Gato dived away from Hiei and rolled, some bits of fur being tugged off in the process. "I don't know why he has changed, but Hiei wasn't always such a savage as he is now.

"But the both of them were forced to draw the line when Shin finally went mad, and tried to destroy the village and everyone in it. Naomi-sama, as I've already stated, was more of a peace-lover than Hiei. Her wish was to only banish Shin, never to show his face on the threat of death. Hiei argued that he knew the way into the village, and could lead nearly an army of bounty hunters straight to our door step. Hiei won the argument in the end. And with that victory," she took a moment to glance over to Hiei and Gato and lean closer to Kurama, dropping her voice to a low tone, "came the right to kill Shin."

Kurama resisted the urge to glance over at Hiei. So, his best friend had killed his mentor? This was actually rather interesting. "And what, pray tell, does my mentor's death have to do with me?" He asked stoically, resting his chin on his fist.

Minnow hardened her stare on his face, her wrinkles becoming more pronounced. "You know as well as I do that Shin was a fox demon that much resembled this form of yours." She gestured with a wither hand to his red hair and slender body. "I'll admit that when I first saw you standing with your friends, I had thought that Shin had returned as a specter to haunt us. But now that I am here, speaking with you, I find that you are much more controlled than your mentor."

Kurama smiled gratefully. "In truth, his nature wasn't entirely favorable." He chuckled quietly. "So then, it is only my physical resemblance to Shin that causes Naomi to distrust me so much?" He puffed a relieved sigh when Minnow nodded. "Well, I must admit, that is a relief. It'd be kind of hard to remain friends with Hiei if his mate has it in for me, as Yusuke would so kindly put it. Am I permitted to ask another question?" He continued when she nodded. "This village, from what I have seen and heard, goes against the very nature of demon kind. By your own story, you all care for and protect each other as much as you can. Also, if my assumption from your name is correct, you are Minnow Miiashi. You are called 'Minnow' because no one seemed to be able to catch you. No matter how elaborate or clever a trap is, you always slipped just out of reach, exactly like your namesake."

The smile that graced Minnow's face wasn't as warm and kind as the first. As a matter of fact, this time it was full of pride, and just a bit predatory. "I am indeed Minnow Miiashi. And I must say, my reputation must have been quite good for the infamous Yoko Kurama to have heard my name. And yet, I fail to see what my identity has to do with your question."

Kurama once again switched his gaze to the fight. He watched in mild fascination as Gato pushed Hiei back with ease. It took a lot of strength to even slightly nudge the fire demon. "Minnow Miiashi, Gato Shinsingami, and Hiei Jaganshi. What could have possibly driven Naomi to start a safe haven for the most dangerous criminals known to the history of all three worlds?"

With each moment passed in silence, the hairs on the back of his neck stood straighter. Unnerved by the sudden tension in the air, he forced himself to look over. As much as he tried to stop it, a shiver went down his spine when he saw all five old women glaring at him. "That," Minnow spat venomously, "is none of your concern. I believe I have answered enough of your questions. I request that you leave us now." Her tone of voice implied that it wasn't a request at all.

A sudden yell drew all of their attention before Kurama could answer. He was actually grateful at the distraction. Miyoma was leaning over a conscious Naomi, who was struggling to sit up. "Naomi-sama, you must stay down! Your wounds are still too fresh, and the arrow that punctured your lungs was laced with the venom of a snake demon."

Kurama noted the suddenly eerie silence from the battle, and glanced over to see Hiei and Gato panting and watching Naomi struggle. With a small and slightly amused grin, he called over, "Feeling better, Hiei?" He chuckled at the scathing glare the little fire demon sent at him and stood, bowing to the women respectfully. "Thank you for your time, Minnow. You have been most helpful."

He felt the glared of all the elders on the back of his head as he sauntered away. Kurama found himself next to a battered Kuwabara and a slightly bruised Yusuke. Despite the large, multiple lumps on his face, Kuwabara's eyes shined proudly. "I actually got a good hit in this time!" He exclaimed, jabbing a thumb into Yusuke's direction.

Kurama nodded his congratulations; he knew how much that would actually mean to the human; and watched Hiei walk towards where Miyoma and Naomi were arguing. Gato trailed behind Hiei silently. Kurama unconsciously noted that all of his scratches and cuts were already gone. "If the girl says to stay down, then stay down, dammit." Hiei snapped. Naomi glared at him, but obediently settled back down. "Kurama and Gato have set up a perimeter in case we're attacked. You don't have to worry about the nest until you heal fully."

Almost immediately, Gato's frame shifted from silent companion to bristling warrior. His ears twitched on top of his head, and he looked in alarm at both Hiei and Naomi. "Nest? What nest? Why haven't I heard about a nest?" Hiei took the time to explain about what he had found. Needless to say, Gato didn't take kindly to it. "I'll bitch at you later for not telling me about it. Right now, what the hell are we still doing here? We gotta move!"

Naomi flashed a triumphant look in Hiei's direction, struggling to get back up. "So there, I win." Miyoma pushed her back down, eliciting a frustrated sigh from the wolf demoness. "Dammit, Miyoma, I am _fine_. This isn't the first time my lungs have been punctured, and it sure as hell won't be the last either!"

Miyoma snarled, all of her patience with her leader running out. "Screw your lungs, you've been poisoned!" Everyone recoiled as if they'd been struck; it was uncommon for any Healer to lose their temper. "We aren't in familiar territory, Naomi-sama. I can't just go into my storage and extract the herbs needed to make an antidote. This forest is unknown, and I need the petals of an Anaconda plant and a sample of the venom to make a cure."

Kurama paced forward, and it took lot of self-control to ignore the way all eyes snapped toward him in hostility. "Excuse me, Naomi, but may I speak?" He noted the reluctance in her nod, and made a mental note to ask Hiei on how to gain her trust. "It seems to me that Miyoma simply cannot find the right plant for an antidote." He looked to the Healer for confirmation, and she nodded warily. "Then perhaps I could be of some help." He reached into his hair to fetch a seed, and paused in curiosity as everyone, even Hiei, suddenly tensed. With a barely concealed sigh, Kurama dropped his hand without grabbing anything. "Is everything I do going to bring about that kind of reaction?" He waved his hand about in generality, and watched in interest as Hiei seemingly unconsciously moved to guard Naomi.

Naomi sighed, and swatted Hiei's pants leg. "For the moment, yes, it will. Hopefully, in time, we can all learn to trust you. But please, forgive us for having bad experiences with fox demons. I don't know if anyone has told you of what happened," here, she flashed a slightly reproachful look to Minnow and her group, "but you will eventually earn our trust and your place among us." She caught Kurama's surprised look, and smiled almost ruefully. "I've heard stories about you on my journeys, Youko Kurama. When you died the first time, you sheltered in the womb of a pregnant human female, overshadowing the soul of the child that would have been. You had originally planned on coming back to the Makai when you regained full use of your powers, but you felt an unexpected attachment for the woman that bore and protected you."

She smiled fondly and glanced in Tsuki's direction, making the small girl huff and turn away. Naomi looked back at Kurama, and her smile fell. "Most demons would say that wanting to protect a human is wrong. It goes against all of demon nature to be kind to humans. I do not agree. Having something you want to protect," she struggled to sit up again, and this time, Hiei and Miyoma let her, "having something that you hold dear to you, that is why you keep getting stronger. Not how much blood you have shed, not how many demons you have killed, or how much training you go through." She pushed herself to her knees, panting with the effort it took. "It's that drive, that urge to protect the ones that you care about, that makes this village what it is." She stood shakily but firmly, holding her head high and her eyes narrowed. "If you can prove to me that your loved ones are most important to you, that's when you are worthy of my trust."

There was silence in the clearing after her speech. Kurama saw that most of the villagers, minus a few more disgruntled looking ones, were staring at Naomi with adoration, almost near awe. There was an abrupt intake of breath as Naomi started to sway on the spot. "Woah..." She muttered, holding a hand to her temple and shaking her head. "Hey Hiei, any possible chance that you can make the world stop spinning?" And then she collapsed, unconscious.

Hiei caught her, cursing loudly and colorfully. "Fox!" He barked, glaring at Kurama. "Get that plant of yours for the antidote." He gently laid Naomi back on the ground, backing away to allow Miyoma to fret over her leader. "Gato, keep your senses sharp. I'm going to get that venom." And then he flitted away.

* * *

Me: I honestly believe this is my best chapter ever. Who else absolutely loves that speech Naomi gave at the end? *raises hand*

Crickets: *cricket cricket*

Me: *eye twitch; smacks crickets with fly swatter* I hate bugs...


	12. I've got blisters on my blisters!

Me: *sigh* Three. I only got three reviews for last chapter. I admit it, I was stalling updating to wait for more, but I got too annoyed.

Yusuke: *low whistle* Three? Damn, that does suck.

Me: Hence the long drawn out sigh. Thank you to **No Name,** **Wistful Sin **and **Neko-Fire Demon Tempest. ** for reviewing. Go read Sin's stuff, it's amazing! I also have a warning. Hiei is OOC in the beginning part. I wanted a fluffy moment between him and Naomi.

Disclaimer: I don't own YYH. Wish I did, but I don't. So, as the song from Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron goes: GET OFF OF MY BACK!

* * *

Chapter 12: I've got blisters on my blisters!

Naomi's senses trickled back to her slowly, like the way a tiny trickle of droplets comes together to form a stream. The first sense to come was hearing. She twitched her ears in a full circle, taking in all of the sounds. The loudest was the rumbling snores of Gato, right next to her. No doubt the fool cat demon had been on guard and then fallen asleep.

She nearly smiled at the thought. She almost sounded like Hiei for a second. Concentrating, she pushed her hearing beyond her second-in-command to the ruffling and shuffling of her sleeping wards. Tsuki's soft breathing sounded near Minnow's rattled breathing. Naomi made a mental note to tell Miyoma to give her some herbs. Pushing her ears beyond even that, she found the spirit detectives huddled by themselves, separated from the group. Only Hiei's breathing was missing. _'But that's to be expected. He never did like to be around others.'_ she thought.

The next sense to come was smell. Earthy scents surrounded her, telling her she hadn't been moved during her sleep. Gato's scent of sweat and fur nearly blocked out everything else. Naomi scrunched up her nose in an effort to drive it out, but it was no good. He must have been closer than she realized. She growled, not even realizing that her sense of speech had come, and sniffed in vain to pick out Hiei's unique smell of musk and smoke. Still, Gato drove out the other smells.

She pried open her eyes to try and find where her friend was. Her vision swam for a bit, but she forced it to straighten with a few blinks. A soft squeak escaped her. Gato's face was barely a foot away from her. Naomi scrambled away from him, tensing when he snorted loudly and sighing in relief when he didn't wake. She raised her head to survey the rest of the people. Her sight first landed on Tsuki and the elders. The older demons were all huddled together, seeking warmth from the others' frail bodies. Tsuki was on the outer edge, between Minnow and the fire.

The wolf leader was hit by an unexpected wave of love and affection for her daughter. Yes she could be difficult, but she was still her child, the one being that bonded herself and Hiei for as long as she may live. Naomi fervently hoped that that would be for a very long time. Tsuki shivered a bit and cuddled closer to Minnow, who unconsciously shifted to accomadate the tiny body. Naomi almost giggled at the sight. Minnow would never have any idea how grateful she was that the old demoness looked after the young one. Tsuki looked to Minnow like she would a grandmother, someone to talk to about her problems and hear stories from.

She looked away from them and attempted to find Koenma's detectives. They were huddled together on the opposite side of the clearing, separated from the villagers. She almost smirked at the positions they were in. Yusuke and Kuwabara were sprawled out side by side, both snoring so loud that she could hear them from where she sat. Kurama was curled up into a ball near their heads with his knees pulled up to his chest. She almost laughed out loud. It was likely a habit left over from his previous life.

Only Hiei was missing, but she didn't think it was odd. She knew there were times when he suffered from insomnia. A pang of concern caught her by surprise, and she rubbed at the spot her heart would be. She thought she'd gotten over him. She wasn't one of those foolish women that didn't know what the warmth in her chest and belly meant. She'd already felt them, before Hiei left the village. What she didn't know was why she was still in love with him, after he abandoned her.

A rustle from behind the detectives made Naomi tense and narrow her eyes. She sighed a breath of relief when Hiei walked into view. It would have been difficult to explain to Miyoma why she had fresh injuries if it had been an enemy. Then curiosity made her ears twitch toward him. What was he doing alone this late at night? A midnight patrol? He looked at her with those red eyes, and Naomi could have sworn a tingle went down her spine. She felt the familiar prodding at her mental barrier, and dropped her shields. _"Hey Hiei. What's up?"_

He nodded his own greeting before replying. _**"I've just been on patrol." **_She hid a grin, knowing her earlier guess had been correct. Hiei narrowed his eyes at her, but otherwise didn't mention it. **_"No activity, which is surprising. From what I know of snake demons, they're disgustingly fond of sneaking up on sleeping travelers, injecting them with venom, and watching them slowly die."_**

She winced at the visual before replying. _"Ugh, that's a disgusting mental image. It's too bad we don't have a snake demon among us. Then Miyoma could make antidotes and anti-venom for whenever this happens again."_ She gestured to all of her, and saw his expression darken in a way that made her heart beat erratically. Pretending not to notice both of their reactions, she patted the ground next to her in invitation.

To her surprise, the fire demon actually took it. He weaved silently in and out of the sleeping bodies, not even stopping when one of them snorted loudly when he passed. He stopped next to her and gracefully sat down, taking his sword from his belt and propping it on his shoulder. He caught Naomi eyeing it, and smirked at her. **_"Yes, wolf, it's the same sword I used on you when you were stealing from my river." _**

He watched in amusement as she puffed out her cheeks indignantly. _"It wasn't your river, dammit! It was a fluke, a chance of fate, that I just happened to be fishing in the part of the river that was in your territory. And you didn't have to scare the crap out of me!"_

_**"I didn't have to pull you out either."**_ he shot back. _**"I could have just left you to drown and feed the fish that you were trying to eat. I didn't, though. I saved your life, and this is the thanks I get?"**_ He sniffed dramatically, sticking his nose up in the air.

Naomi silenced a giggle, rather liking their playful banter. It reminded her of simpler times, before the village even came into being. _"I wouldn't have even been in danger if you'd use the brain you have beneath the funky hair!"_ Hiei glared at her, affronted, and Naomi stifled laughter behind her hand. _"Aw, you know I'm just playin'. I love your hair!"_ On a whim, she reached over and ran her fingers through his hair. She smiled when he practically purred and bent his head to give her better access. It was softer than she'd thought it would be. Neither of them realized they were moving until Hiei's head was in her lap and she was cradling him like she would a precious gift. She paused with her fingers still in his hair. _"Huh... When did we get like this?"_

Hiei, looking far more adorable than he had in ages, blinked up at her in confusion before he realized their position as well. _**"I have no idea." **_Neither gave any sign that they were uncomfortable or awkward at all, so both just shrugged it off and Naomi continued, for lack of a better word, petting him. They stayed like that well into the night, eventually falling asleep together.

* * *

Tsuki was roughly woken up by the man she believed she hated most in the world. She rubbed her red eyes tiredly, glaring up at her father when she removed them. "What do you want, asshole?" she growled. Hiei pointed, stiff-limbed, to a patch of grass on fire not even three yards from where she'd previously been asleep. She narrowed her eyes, attempting to figure out what the hell he was getting at without damaging her pride. It was about that time when she realized her energy was churning without her knowledge. With an accidental yelp, Tsuki quelled the storm inside of her. The fire lessened and eventually spluttered out without her energy to feed it.

She glared up at Hiei, who now stood with arms crossed sternly over his chest. "You need to control your energy before you end up burning everyone alive." he snapped harshly. "And as much as I'm certain we both loathe the concept, I'm the only one who's able to teach you. I understand that we don't like one another, but we can at least be civil towards each other until you know how to control yourself in your sleep. Is that understood, brat?" Tsuki growled at the insult, but nodded anyway. "Good."

She blinked once, and he disappeared. She blinked again in surprise, and he reappeared right in front of her. This time, he held a stick in his hand. It was as long as his forearm with the width of his finger. He flicked his wrist once, and the tip was set on fire. The half-wolf, half-fire girl said grudgingly, "Neat trick."

He smirked and put the flame out before tossing it to her. She caught it out of reflex. "First lesson. Energy manipulation. I assume your mother has taught you at least something useful." When Tsuki nodded, Hiei continued. "Forget it."

She gaped at him, and snapped, "The hell is that supposed to mean, old man? I can't just forget the first lesson she freaking ingrained into my system!" They glared at each other for a minute before Tsuki added, "No, literally, that was the very first thing she taught me. As soon as I could understand basic speech, she taught me how to defend myself with the shadows."

Hiei snorted and rolled his eyes. "Figures she'd teach you how to be a vicious little sneak." he grumbled, and could have almost sworn he saw Tsuki grin for a second before her face fell back into the scowl. "I didn't mean forget your shadow-training, brat. As you showed yesterday, you inherited both types of energies from us: her dark powers and my fire powers. The way she taught you won't be helpful in training your fire energy."

Tsuki looked confused, and he sighed and said, "How to put this without sounding like a pansy like Kurama..." The insult to his friend came naturally, and this time he was certain she grinned. He decided there wasn't anyway to not sound like a pansy, and just ground out, "Controlling your fire means controlling your inner fire. Your shadow powers entail, for lack of a better expression, emptying yourself of your emotions and feelings and focusing on the darkness both outside and in.

"Fire, on the other hand, is focused solely on the inside. We concentrate on our emotions instead of emptying them. Some of the bigger fire-pansies concentrate on the pathetic emotions, like," and here his features contorted into a part-ways disgusted and part-ways anger, "love and good-will and all the other complete bullshit that makes a demon weak. As for others, including myself," he held out a hand and a purple fireball appeared in his palm, "we focus on anger, and hatred, and all of the things that make demon world what it really is... a place of darkness where only the strongest survive."

Tsuki looked almost scared, and Hiei was caught off-guard by a twinge of guilt. Then he scowled at himself, because guilt was for the weak. He clenched his fist, extinguishing the fireball, and nodded toward the stick still held in her hand. "Focus hard on your hatred. It makes us strong." He left her staring after his back as he went to wake up his team, kicking Kuwabara in the side. "Wake up, fool. It's time we were moving."

Kuwabara cried out at the unexpected contact and flailed his arms, screaming about an ambush. His yelling caused others nearby to jolt up in shock and fear, and Hiei quickly put the human back under with a well-aimed punch to the back of the head. "Dumb-ass..." he growled, turning to his other two teammates. Kurama had been one of the ones to come awake, but he was smiling politely. "Glad to see you're up, fox." Hiei grumbled, looking dangerously close to sulking.

Kurama chuckled and nodded to his friend. "Good morning to you as well, Hiei." They watched the rest of the villagers rouse themselves in lazy interest. To Hiei's concealed amusement, Gato was giving himself a morning bath, running his tongue along the fur on his arm and glaring at anyone that looks like they would say something. Kurama watched his friend from the corner of his eye and finally said, "You seem, dare I say it, distracted this morning, Hiei."

Hiei gave a 'hn' and tilted his head in Tsuki's direction, who was glaring at her 'exercise' while grumbling. "I think I may have just doomed us all by telling the brat to act like me." Kurama masked a snicker by coughing into his fist while Hiei gave a tiny smirk. "God help us all if she takes that to heart, though. Makai could barely handle one of me when I was a child. Imagine what would happen if there was a female version and she went PMS on everyone."

Kurama's coughing was now indicative of hacking up a lung. When he settled back down, though, he smiled. Something was changing within his friend. Hiei barely ever joked so freely, and even then only ever gave off amusement when someone, namely Kuwabara, was insulted. "Would you like me to go scouting and see if there's a water source near by? I imagine there would be at least one demon among the villagers who would like some morning refreshment."

The black-haired demon was actually rather surprised by the offer. He didn't expect his teammates to treat him any differently after the truth about him was revealed, Kurama least of all. Then again, the fox demon was too damned formal for his own good. "Say that again, but like the regular Kurama." he growled. Kurama looked surprised at his response. Then Hiei sighed and shook his head. "And besides, I already scouted out earlier. There's a river a bit to the south of here we can stop at on our way."

After receiving his nod, Hiei walked away to where the elders were just stirring themselves. Minnow was already up and watching him approach. "Hello Hiei." the old demoness croaked. "My mouth is parched this morning. Would you happen to know if there's a stream or a river nearby where I can quench my thirst?" She coughed a few times to clear her throat, but Hiei frowned at her raspy breathing after she was done. "Excuse me." she said, grinning weakly.

Hiei snorted and crossed his arms, glaring down at the kneeling elder. "You know damn well you aren't well enough to travel all that way on your own." he snapped. Minnow glared right back and was about to snap back when another coughing fit caused her to hunch herself. In a rare gesture of care, Hiei knelt down on one knee and rubbed her back, trying to help her breathing a little. When the fit subsided, she bowed her head in defeat. In a decidedly much gentler voice, Hiei said, "I'll ask Miyoma to give you something for your breathing." But they both knew her body was weakening. They both knew just how old she was. Both knew that Minnow would never see her home again.

Minnow nodded, obviously deciding not to say anything, and settled back down. The other elders were just beginning to stir. Kiyoko, the elder who'd insulted Kurama the day before, was staring hatefully at him. Hiei ignored the elder in favor of checking on Naomi and Miyoma, and snorted when he discovered that they were still arguing. By listening briefly, he discerned that Naomi didn't want to be carried. He sighed at her stubbornness and internally winced when she caught sight of him. "Hiei, please tell Miyoma that I don't need to be carried."

Before answering, he looked at the healer for confirmation. She sighed and nodded. "Alright then. Miyoma, Naomi doesn't need to be carried." Naomi sent a triumphant look to the other woman only to deflate when Hiei continued. "But I want a guard on her at all times." When she looked ready to argue, Hiei rapped his knuckles quickly on her head. "As difficult as this may be for you, wolf, use your brain. Whoever attacked us was trying to kill you, not me. The arrow that hit you was the one poisoned. My guess is that the attack on me was just to get your attention."

Naomi blinked and narrowed her eyes, frowning. "That's a bad sign, then... Whoever the attacker was knew us well enough to know that I'd take the hit if it saved your life..." Neither one liked the implications of what that meant. Either someone was watching them or it was an inside job, and both Naomi and Hiei disliked either option. "Fine then. If I must have a guard, then I won't argue." she relented with a sigh. It was an unspoken agreement between the two that they'd discuss it later.

Hiei nodded and turned to go when Gato looked up from his bath. "I'll take first shift and find two other demons to rotate with. Sound good to you?" When he nodded, the cat demon stretched his arms in the air. "Got it. I'm ready to move out when you give the signal Hiei." His eyes drifted to something over Hiei's shoulder and he bent closer, whispering so that only Hiei, Naomi, and Miyoma could hear, "Are you sure we can trust the fox, Hiei? He's looking over here, and I'm not sure I like the look in his eye."

The fire demon looked over his shoulder to see Kurama watching with a golden glint in his eyes. Hiei looked back and met Gato's eyes steadily. "I know I can trust him just like I know I can trust you. To question Kurama is to question yourself. If you don't trust him, then at least trust my judgement." They measured each other up before Gato nodded and went to stand by Naomi. Hiei nodded back and stalked over to Kurama who was indeed smirking in amusement. "If you have something to say, fox, then say it." he snapped, scowling.

Kurama chuckled, and Hiei decided that it was a chuckle that he didn't like. "Of course not, Hiei_-sama._ Whatever made you think that?" He expertly dodged Hiei's blow to the head and gave a delicate laugh. "Come now, Hiei, you know I'm only teasing you."

Hiei scowled at the demon he reluctantly called his best friend and crossed his arms stubbornly, glaring at Kurama in annoyance. "Mocking me is more like it." he said, his scowl becoming more pronounced. "Don't think I don't know you well enough to know the difference, fox."

At first, the former fox thief blinked and looked at the sky, seemingly deep in thought. Then he smiled at Hiei and nodded slightly, all serious and sage-like in his expression. "Okay, yes, there might have been some mockery in there." Steam literally rose from Hiei's shoulders while his fists trembled at his sides. "But really, Hiei, who besides you can fault me for it? For as long as I've known you, and please keep in mind I have known you for a while, you have never given the slightest hint that you care about those you deem weaker than yourself. And yet here you are, seemingly content to care for an entire village. Please, tell me what happened between then and now to cause that miraculous change."

The words seemed to catch the attention of every living creature in the clearing. Hiei felt the heated gazes from everyone, human, demon, or other wise, pounding from all directions. He ignored them in favor of weighing his options. If he answered truthfully, that would not only make him seem weak but also open more doors for questions. If he lied, he had no doubt that Kurama would notice and call him out on it. If he just walked away, he knew that everyone would hound him for answers, and that was something that Hiei just wouldn't accept. Picking his words carefully, he said, "I was a different demon back then. You of all people should understand that, Kurama."

The answer did its purpose and made Kurama shut up. It was a slightly low blow for their 'don't ask, don't tell' relationship, but Hiei wasn't comfortable enough yet with the situation to tell even his friend. A sudden laugh from Gato made both demons refrain from jumping, and the cat demon sauntered from Naomi's side to give Kurama a friendly clap on the back. "Ha, been a while since I've seen him think that hard. You must give the little prick more trouble than I do!"

He laughed while Kurama just gave a polite smile, and Hiei resisted the urge to groan and mouth 'Why me?' to the sky like the Gods would answer him. Instead, he rubbed his temple with his fingers and said, "I swear to God, I'm killing myself if you two team up against me." He tactfully ignored Tsuki's should of "DO IT!" and proceeded to raise his voice so everyone could hear him, "Is everyone ready?" The collective reply was positive. "We're traveling south by south-east. There's a river there that we can use to get drinks and stock up supplies. Now let's go home!" Silence was all he got, and Hiei suddenly became aware of exactly what he'd said. "Oh, you know what I mean." he growled out. His team were the only ones to laugh.

* * *

About an hour later, Hiei was about ready to make good on his word. Yusuke and Kuwabara had grown bored and decided to thoroughly taunt, tease, mock, and embarrass their pint-sized teammate by exaggerating his new-found position. The two would take turns running up to him and ask if he would like them to feed him grapes from a vine, or other stupid things that made a twitch develop in one of Hiei's eyes. Kuwabara had even found a large leaf that he tried using to fan Hiei and block the sun's rays from him. Hiei promptly burned the leaf and sent the human fleeing for his life.

And of course, Naomi found all of this hilarious. "It's not funny!" he snapped at her when she was leaning on his arm, doubled over from laughter.

Naomi gasped for breath and managed to splutter, "Yes it is! Oh dear Gods, yes it is!" He had to look away when she looked up at him with shining eyes. Since they hadn't met anyone so far, Hiei had lifted the guard from her. The difference between her attitudes was tremendous.

Now he was sending out frequent scouting parties. Hiei wondered if he should worry that being the leader had come back so easily. Each scouting party has four types of demons in them: animal, psychic, elemental, and ones with basic healing powers. Since he was both psychic and elemental, Hiei found himself doing quite a few of the patrols, especially since there were so few psychics among the villagers.

He was on one now, a good mile and a half in front of his villagers. He and two other demons, Maya and Taka, were squatting in a tree, overseeing a huge meadow could easily accommodate everyone. The two he was with were unknown to him. Probably joined after he left. So Hiei did his best to keep his distance from them. They were sitting in a branch above him, arguing quietly. "It's too open. Naomi-sama will be in too much danger of an attack." Maya hissed.

Taka gave a loud snort, giving no sign that he cared at all about Hiei's sharp and slightly reproachful glare. "The entirely village will be too open, but we wouldn't do very well as demons if we couldn't fight back. Besides, like Hiei said at the big-ass tree back there," he gestured with a furry paw, for Taka was a lion demon, "if we can see where our opponent is coming from, we've already won half of the battle. These trees may feel home to you, Maya, but not to me."

Maya was a bird-like demon. Her brown plumage and white head gave her the appearance of a bald eagle. She ruffled her feathers in annoyance and fixed one amber eye on her companion. "This isn't about comfort, you fool! It's about the safety and protection of our village as a whole. Don't act like distance attacks have never happened before. Our leader herself can use our very own shadows against us!"

They went on in the same fashion. Hiei did his best to ignore their bickering, much like he did with Yusuke and Kuwabara. Motion at the other end of the field caught his attention, and he held up his hand for the other two to fall silent. They did instinctively, and all three tensed when two people came into view. Neither of them had any special markings to identify their type or rank, but the leader one walked with a heavy limp while the other held their arm at an awkward angle.

Hiei dispatched Taka with a flicker of his Jagan with instructions to halt the village until he summoned them again. The air next to him stirred and the lion demon was gone. Taka had only been gone for a moment before the lead female spoke between clenched teeth. Hiei couldn't tell if it was from pain or annoyance. "You had to antagonize that boar demon, didn't you? You had to rile him, _had_ to challenge him, and then _had_ to get your freaking _ass_ handed to you!"

The second one snorted and said, "I didn't ask you to come save the day, you know. I had the situation under control."

The first girl turned around with some difficult and pinned the other with a steely gaze. "You were hanging in thin airby the arm, with _nothing holding you up._" She made a gesture to her companion's wounded appendage with a scowl. "If you honestly think that I'd believe you were handling it, then you obviously don't know me as well as we both thought you did."

Hiei studied the two while their argument continued. They were about the same height, taller than himself but shorter than Yusuke. From far away, they looked like they'd come up to about the detective's chin. The one with the injured arm stood with her arms crossed, despite the pain it must have caused, with her chin jutted out defiantly. She had short black hair that curled around her ears, but there was a slight reddish tinge to the tips. She wore a battered old red tunic with one sleeve ripped off and black shorts that fell to just above her knees.

The other woman looked very different. Her hair fell down to almost her lower back in matted tangles. It looked like a bright lavender color, but Hiei saw some streaks of dark purple thrown in there. She wore a one piece fighting tunic, much like what Kurama had worn in the Dark Tournament, except this one was dark purple lined with gold. Instead of pants, she wore a black skirt that ended mid-shin. There was a high slit in it, but the jagged edges in it said it wasn't a fashion statement.

Maya nudged him with a feathered arm. Hiei hadn't even felt her settle next to him. She gestured above where the two women stood with her head. About five snake demons were watching the new arrivals, waiting to ambush them. Hiei didn't think twice; he didn't even think once. When they leaped from their trees, so did he. The difference was that he was fasted. By the time the two women looked up, two of the snake demons were already dead. Maya flew from where she'd been perched and landed behind him, next to the other females.

One of the ambushers gave a loud hiss. Even more snake demons came from the forest, circling the four demons until they were surrounded by hissing, scaly black waves. Something stirred in the back of Hiei's mind. It wasn't the feeling of a telepath trying to gain entrance into his brain. It was more like his subconscious was attempting to tell him something. He impatiently shook the nagging thought off. Now was not the time for solving his mind's cryptic puzzles.

The two women had fallen into defensive positions, the bright haired one letting out a threatening growl. From the corner of his mouth, Hiei murmured to them, "How effectively can you fight with your injuries?"

The two-toned female answered for them both. "We're always fit to fight whenever we have to."

He snorted impatiently, idly wondering why the enemies hadn't already struck. "That's not what I asked, woman. I want to know how effective you'd be in the fight." Neither answered, and he directed his next question to Maya. "Can you heal them if I buy you enough time?" The bird demon nodded tensely. "Then get to work." With a sweep of his arm, a ring of fire sprang to life around them all.

Through the sheet of flames, he saw the nearest wave back away nervously. Hiei mentally ran through what he knew of snake demons. Their hard scales gave them a natural resistance to heat. That gave him a disadvantage. They have venom in their fangs. One bite could be enough to kill him in a matter of hours. Well then, he'll just have to cut their heads off before they could have that chance.

The first row shuffled closer to his barrier. Hiei made the flames jump higher, if only to just intimidate them a little more, but they just jumped right through and charged. Hiei readied himself to defend the females behind him and withdrew his sword. Half of the enemies were dead before they could even blink. He heard the crack of bones being reset and would have at least thought about being sympathetic if he wasn't trying to control his blood lust. He kept his breathing even and narrowed his eyes, for once refusing to give in to his instincts.

The half that he hadn't killed had backed away when they saw him kill their comrades, but didn't run. They ignored the heat that no doubt lapped at them and stared at Hiei with beady little eyes that were filled with malice. Any lesser demon would have been unnerved, but he just stare evenly right back at them. One or two of them shifted nervously, but made no other motion to escape. _'Their funerals.'_ Hiei thought uncaringly.

The center demon made the first attack. Hiei did the most minimal dodge needed and ran his sword through it's chest. The pitiful weakling gurgled a bit, choking on a mixture of blood and saliva, before it slumped over in death. The far left demon jumped forward immediately after. Hiei swung his sword in it's direction, the carcass being flung in it's direction to knock the bastard down.

Pure instinct was the only reason Hiei didn't lose his head. The moment he felt the air stir behind him, he ducked. A few hairs were taken off the top of his head, that was it. His attack gave a strangled hiss before he even turned. When he did, he saw the short-haired woman had broken the lizard's neck. She gave him a sadistic grin. "Don't step on a crack or I'll come up and break your back!" she chirped.

Hie snorted, turning to acknowledge the second wave of enemies as they took their fallen comrades places. "There aren't any cracks and you broke his neck. Don't tell me you're too incompetent to know the difference."

Her face immediately fell into a horrified expression. "Oh dear Gods in the sky, not another one!" She looked behind them to where Maya and the other demon was. "Violet, he sounds just like you! He's insulting me with sarcasm right before we start kicking ass!"

A crack and a pained hiss followed her exclamation, and the woman called Violet growled out sarcastically, "I'll be sure to lament the loss of your dignity later." She stepped up beside Hiei opposite her friend. "What now? Are we just going to wait here until they come for our heads?"

He didn't answer her, choosing instead to address Maya. "Fly back to camp. Tell Naomi not to freak before telling her what's going on. I discovered the reason why we weren't all killed last night." The soft stirring of feathers and the flap of wings was the only answer he got. To the two at his sides, he said, "Keep their attention. Make sure their eyes are on us. If Maya can make it back, we may have reinforcements."

The still unnamed demoness said casually, "Might not be necessary. They're retreating." Hiei narrowed his eyes at the army of snakes. He hadn't realized it at first, but the ones in the back were slowly backing away, the ones in the front following. Those closest to them were hissing and spitting like they didn't want to leave, but they withdrew nonetheless.

When the last of the enemies were gone, Hiei extinguished the fire he'd conjured and turned to the women. They eyed him warily, as if they were unsure what to make of his interference. He mentally shrugged. It wasn't his problem if they didn't like him or trust him. So with a faint nod of his head, he started to leave. "Wait." Violet said. She seemed to be struggling with herself before saying, "You have saved our lives, swordsman. And for that, we owe you a debt and gratitude."

Hiei snorted and stayed turned away. "You can keep both. I don't care what you do or where you go. I only saved you because there is no honor in ambushing an already injured demon."

The short-haired woman scoffed and said, "Whatever you say, short-stack. You saved our skins, we owe you, deal with it. My name is Phire. That's the only time I'm gonna say it, so remember it!" Despite himself, he had to suppress a snort of amusement. "Until we save your ass, you're stuck with us. Love it, hate it, I don't give a damn. You just have to deal with it."

* * *

Me: AND THAT IS IT! What do you guys think? Two new characters that I thought would be fun. Also, I have a poll in my profile concerning this story. If you'd all vote in it, I would much appreciate it.


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